The Ball and Plate Apparatus shows the problems of the of an unstable system. The apparatus consists of a plate pivoted at its centre so the plate can tilt in two directions.
The basic control task is to control the ball position. The ball is free to roll on the plate.
Stepper motors tilt the plate. A servo system with a stepper motor control card controls the motors. A camera with an intelligent vision system measures the ball position.
The equipment includes:
A data acquisition board for your computer
Camera with USB connection
Ball and plate model
Power supply
The data acquisition board fits into a suitable computer (not included) to link with the Ball and Plate Apparatus and control its motors.
Software (included)
Interface library for programming at the system level
Demonstration program with PID controllers
