Exploring PID Control in Ball-Beam Systems: A Hands-On Educational Approach

This paper presents a low cost, classroom experiment on constructing and testing a ball and beam system controlled by a PID (Proportional-Integral-Derivative) controller.This system is to be used in a senior level control systems class.The system consists of an Arduino microcontroller and a servo motor and a distance sensor.The experiment's goal is to tune the PID gains to balance a ball in the middle of the beam based on the distance that the IR sensor measures.The ball is set to be in the middle of the beam and the position of the ball and the speed of the servo can be manipulated based on the feedback from the distance sensor.The students were asked to study the roles of proportional (Kp), derivative (Kd), and integral (Ki) gain parameters in controlling the system dynamics.This paper presents various gain values derived from the designs of each group.This hands-on experiment gives the student a basic understanding of PID control principles and its application in real-world situations.