Electronics Kit to help learn Control Systems?

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lindula
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Electronics Kit to help learn Control Systems?

Post by lindula »

Hello, I am looking to teach my daughter Control Systems. I found a great kit on Amazon that includes a motor, an Arduino, and a book with tutorials and instructions: Control System Design: Getting Started with Arduino and MATLAB (kit+book set). I thought this would be perfect to learn by build the examples and learn how to use Matlab/Simulink. I wanted to ask the forum members if anyone knows of other similar kits that can help me and my daughter learn about control loops?

Thanks,
Joe
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haklesup
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Re: Electronics Kit to help learn Control Systems?

Post by haklesup »

Not all kits are equal. Many low cost ones have limited instructions and lack a theoretical discussion but are still very fun to build. Check out icstation dot com for some of those really cheap kits including ucontroller dev kit boards (Arduino, raspberry pi and others) and tons of modules to integrate. Theory and method can be supplemented online.

If you want something more instructive then you will need to shop around for the right balance of documentation and difficulty for your daughter. I think robots of just about any kind or size are great for control systems and fun kits available from a variety of sources. if Matlab/Simulink is too high level for her, try NI MultiSim student edition, it has lots of educational support online and is often used by university classes and starts at $40 and comes with a basic ultiboard. Don't forget to search ebay as well for electronics kit or robot kit, there are lots of them

This one caught my eye, you can download the manual from this page
http://www.icstation.com/robot-learning ... -2206.html

However if you are just focused on analog feedback control it may be out of scope.
lindula
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Re: Electronics Kit to help learn Control Systems?

Post by lindula »

haklesup,

Hi, thank you very much for your post and the suggestions. I am going to purchase you suggestion. Quick question, I have never used/programmed Arduino devices, will there be some instruction on how to run the software and do I need to purchase the development software?

Thanks,
Joe
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haklesup
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Re: Electronics Kit to help learn Control Systems?

Post by haklesup »

Well, I'm no expert on Arduino but there seem to be several others here who are very knowledgeable and there are also many other websites dedicated to supporting this hobbyist accessible technology. you will need some development software on a PC to write and load code from but all the hardware for that kit would be included. The manual download was on that link so you can see for yourself exactly how much help you can expect from the supplier. In addition to some software and a kit, you should give her a head start by identifying several websites with appropriate resources.
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