Description
Overview:
This module provides students with an understanding of the tools & techniques required to interface between mechanical components and the wider world, involving sensing, actuation (e.g. motors) modelling and control.
Topics covered:
Modelling Dynamic Systems
- Time-response (“dynamics”) of first- and second-order systems: including examples of electrical filters used to reduce ripple & electrical noise.
- Ordinary differential equations (ODE), to complement (not duplicate) the Mechanics of Solids and core IEP modelling & analysis syllabus.
- Mass-spring-damper systems and the concepts of resonance.
Instrumentation
- Measures of strain (strain gauge), displacement (optical encoder, LVDT, possibly hall-effect sensor), force, velocity, temperature.
Control and Electrical Power
- Introduction to control. Open- and closed-loop control representation, emphasising open loop = “model-based predictive control”. Examples of regulation, including cruise control (speed), temperature control.
- Feedback, and the general structure of a control loop.
- Electric motor types, including impedance.
Learning outcomes:
Upon completion of this module students will be able to:
- Create linear analytical models of dynamic systems and solve them to identify the response of those systems to a range of inputs.
- Select appropriate sensors which may be required to interface between a mechanical system and its application (e.g. displacement sensor).
- Identify the important components of a control loop and choose a general control strategy.
- Analyse a range of electrical power machines and identify their suitability for applications.
Module deliveries for 2024/25 academic year
Last updated
This module description was last updated on 19th August 2024.