Same as the physical Ball and Beam, the virtual system features a track on which a ball is free to roll. The track is effectively a potentiometer, outputting a voltage proportional to the position of the ball. The tilt angle of the track is controlled by the Rotary Servo’s DC motor.
QLabs Virtual Ball and Beam is a fully instrumented, dynamically accurate digital twin of the Quanser Ball and Beam system. It behaves in the same way as the physical hardware and can be measured and controlled using MATLAB®/Simulink® and other development environments. With QLabs Virtual Ball and Beam, you can enrich your lectures and activities in traditional labs, or bring credible, authentic model-based lab experiences into your distance and online control systems course.
QLabs Virtual Ball and Beam is available as a 12-month, multi-seat subscription. The platform is compatible with the physical Ball and Beam curriculum, which covers various modelling and control topics.
To access and manage your QLabs Controls subscription, log in to your Quanser Academic Portal account.
QLabs Controls is based on Quanser physical plants and is accompanied by a comprehensive curriculum covering topics such as modeling, speed and position control, aerospace control, instructor resources, and tools to manage student access and monitor their progress.
The Ball and Beam module is ideal to introduce various control concepts related to unstable closed loop systems. You can use it to demonstrate real-world control challenges such as aircraft roll control. The module attaches to the Rotary Servo Base Unit.
The Rotary Flexible Joint module is ideal for modeling a flexible joint on a robot when mounted on the Rotary Servo Base Unit. It is also useful in the study of vibration analysis and resonance. This experiment uses a sensor to measure joint deflection, to address the control problems encountered in large, geared robot joints where flexibility is exhibited in the gearbox. Students will learn how to model the system using state-space and design a feedback controller with pole-placement.
