ME451: Control Systems Laboratory

Lab Coordinators: Professors Jongeun Choi (Primary) and Brian Feeny

2459 EB, Ph: (517) 432-3164, email: jchoi@egr.msu.edu
Laboratory Location: 1532EB
Website: http://www.egr.msu.edu/classes/me451/jchoi/2012/lab

Objectives:
• Learn to simulate dynamic systems in the Matlab environment,
• Familiarize the student with theoretical and practical aspects of making physical
measurements,
• Introduce the student to a variety of transducers and instrumentation used by
mechanical engineers,
• Familiarize students with the behavior of control systems and enable them to
understand the role the system parameters in control system response,
• Develop skills in writing technical reports.

Experiments:

1 Modeling and Experimental Validation of a First-Order Plant: DC

Servo Motor

2 Modeling and Experimental Validation of a Second-Order Plant:

Mass-Spring-Damper System

3 Sinusoidal Response of a First-Order Plant: Operational

Amplifier Circuit

4 Sinusoidal Response of a First-Order Plant: DC Servo Motor

5 Sinusoidal Response of a Second-Order Plant: Torsional Mass-

Spring-Damper System

6 Control of a System with Process Delay

Laboratory Grading:
Short Forms (9) 70%

1 Matlab Workshop, 6 Experiments, 2 Design Projects

Formal Reports (2) 30%

(Note: to pass ME451, you must pass the laboratory portion of the course)

Revised 8-20-2012 Page 1 of 5

Laboratory Schedule:
Each section will be divided into three groups: Groups A, B, and C. Group assignments
will be posted outside room 1532EB before the second week of the semester. All groups
of a particular section will attend the laboratory at their scheduled time, and perform
experiments using the schedule shown below.

Week Week Group A Group B Group C

1 8/29­8/31 No Lab No Lab No Lab
2 9/4­9/7 Matlab Matlab Matlab
Mon: Labor Workshop Workshop Workshop
Day
3 9/10­9/14 Modeling:  No Lab Modeling: 
1st Order System 2nd Order System
4 9/17­9/21 Modeling:  Modeling:  No Lab
2nd Order System 1st Order System ­
5 9/24­2/28 No Lab Modeling:  Modeling: 
2nd Order System 1st Order System
6 10/1­10/5 Sinusoidal Model: No Lab Sinusoidal Model:
Op Amp  DC Servo
7 10/8­10/12 Sinusoidal Model: Sinusoidal Model: No Lab
DC Servo Op Amp 
8 10/15­10/19 No Lab Sinusoidal Model: Sinusoidal Model:
DC Servo Op Amp
9 10/22­10/26 Sinusoidal Model: No Lab Air Temperature
Torsional System w/ Process Delay
10 10/29­11/2 Air Temperature Sinusoidal Model: No Lab
w/ Process Delay  Torsional System
11 11/5­11/9 No Lab Air Temperature Sinusoidal Model:
w/ Process Delay Torsional System
12 11/12­11/16 Design Project 1 Design Project 1 Design Project 1
13 11/19­11/23 No Lab  No Lab  No Lab 
11/22­
Thanksgiv.
14 11/26­11/30 Design Project 2 Design Project 2 Design Project 2
15 12/3­12/7 No Lab No Lab No Lab
* 12/10­12/14 Finals week­­­ Finals week­­­ Finals week­­­

Revised 8-20-2012 Page 2 of 5

Matlab Workshop will be done individually and will not be done in the laboratory. You
will submit a short form to your lab TA when you meet with him/her for the first time.

Revised 8-20-2012 Page 3 of 5

Laboratory Reports:
Short Forms: After performing each experiment, students must complete and turn in
their respective short forms to the laboratory TA before the end of the laboratory period.
These forms will be graded and returned in the next class. The short forms are included in
the laboratory handout at the end of each experiment description.

Formal Reports: Each student will have to write two formal reports during the
semester. Students writing their report will turn in their rough draft one week after
completing the lab (For example, a week 5 lab report is due at the beginning of the lab in
week 6). The draft reports will be reviewed by your laboratory TA and Craig Gunn, and
suggestions for improvement will be provided to the student at the following week’s lab
period. The revised, final, version of the report is then due at the beginning of the lab
period 3 weeks after the lab. The final version of the report will be graded.
Draft: Two copies of the report must be submitted
Final: One final report hardcopy and electronic copy (emailed to TA), and the two
marked up drafts.

Notes:

(1) 100% laboratory attendance is mandatory.

(2) Laboratory work accounts for 25% of the overall grade for ME451
(3) Students can reschedule their laboratory time only in special situations,
through PRIOR arrangements made with TAs. If a laboratory is missed
without prior arrangement, the student will receive a zero.
(4) Short forms have to be submitted at the end of the laboratory
(5) Late formal reports will not be accepted unless PRIOR arrangements have
been made with the laboratory coordinator.
(6) Laboratory handouts are available in the course web pages
(7) Read the laboratory handout for each week’s lab BEFORE coming to the
laboratory. You may otherwise face difficulty completing your experiment.

Section Times:
Section Day Lab Time Lecture Time Enroll
01 M 19:00 – 21:50 hrs 9
02 Tu 11:30 – 2:20 hrs 9
03 Tu 15:30 – 17:50 hrs 9
04 Tu 19:00 – 21:50 hrs MWF 11:30 – 12:20 hrs 9
05 W 19:00 – 21:50 hrs 9
06 Th 8:00 – 10:50 hrs 8
07 Th 19:00 – 21:50 hrs 6

Revised 8-20-2012 Page 4 of 5

Whirlwind Corporation
1234 Research Parkway
Technology, MI 98765
"State-of-the-Art Technology"

M EM O RAN DU M

TO: Mechatronics Development Group

FROM: Jongeun Choi, Controls Group Supervisor
DATE: August 29, 2012
SUBJ: Instrumentation for Flyer ™ Disk Drive Development Tests

1. The Mechatronics Development Group is currently in the first phase of design, development, and
testing of a new compact Flyer ™ Disk Drive for home computer use. The goal of this project is to
provide a new standard in home computer speed and reliability. This new Disk Drive should provide
30% better power efficiency along with a 100% increase in Mean Time Before Failure MTBF over
currently available products in the marketplace. The new disk drive design should reduce system costs,
increase reliability and performance over existing disk drives and provide a significant reduction in
noise and vibration levels. The disk drive will use whatever state-of-the-art materials and techniques are
required to achieve the above goals with a 10 year MTBF.

2. During the next 15 weeks, all members of the Development Group will participate in the testing and
evaluation of instrumented prototype systems. This instrumentation will be used for development testing
during the second phase of the project. It is important to understand the characteristics of the
instrumentation and its operation as well as the control technologies involved so that we will be able to
conduct laboratory tests of the new product quickly and accurately using the best techniques available.
The Controls Group has assembled exercises in the technical areas required for our development
program. Our technical staff will help you investigate these topics.

TOPIC
First-Order Plant: DC Servo Motor
Second-Order Plant: Mass-Spring-Damper System
Sinusoidal Response of a First-Order Plant: DC Servo Motor
Sinusoidal Response: Torsional Mass-Spring-Damper System
Sinusoidal Response: Operational Amplifier Circuit
Control of a System with Process Delay

3. You will prepare a short report on each of the above areas and formal technical reports on two of the
above topics. The staff will provide a sheet outlining the issues to be addressed in each short report.
Information on the format of the two Formal Technical Reports is included in the laboratory
documentation.

Revised 8-20-2012 Page 5 of 5