TranslateControl, Automation & Instrumentation
Sensors, feedback loops, and automation — keeping systems on target.
Lessons
All lessonsIntroduction to Open and Closed Loops
Explore the difference between simple open-loop triggers and complex feedback systems.
Actuators: Turning Signals into Motion
Discover how control systems use actuators to physically influence the real world.
Stability and Oscillation in Systems
Understand why systems oscillate and how to keep them from spinning out of control.
Understanding PID Controllers
Learn how PID controllers use error to maintain precise system setpoints.
The Feedback Loop
The secret to how machines control themselves.
Challenges
Haptic Feedback PID Precision Balancing
Design a closed-loop control system that stabilizes a weighted beam using a single servo actuator while providing real-time haptic resistance to the user. Implement a PID control algorithm to maintain the beam's center of gravity despite external perturbations, tuning the derivative gain to minimize oscillatory dampening. The system must process sensor input and provide active tactile force feedback to the operator's hand.
Stochastic Thermal Regulation Challenge
Design and implement a PID control loop capable of maintaining a constant temperature in a container subject to unpredictable, high-frequency external thermal noise. You must characterize your system's dead time and noise floor, then tune your controller to minimize steady-state error while maintaining stability during introduced step-load disturbances. Document your loop response curves and justify your tuning parameters based on the system's identified transfer function.
The Automated Sun-Tracker
Design a passive or active control system that keeps a light sensor oriented directly toward a moving light source. Your mechanism must demonstrate automatic correction when the source shifts position and maintain a stable alignment for at least 30 seconds. Participants should focus on minimizing oscillations during the tracking process.
