Control system hardware projects

This paper presents student-initiated projects as part of a control systems course for senior-level electronics engineering technology (EET) students

Student outcomes and associated assessment methodologies as well as general project management concepts are discussed

Parts of the system include a PC, software control engine, programming software, data communications software, communications cards, I/O device network, and I/O modules

Before considering individual components, the first thing to do is to consider implementation of that first PC-based control system as a typical engineering project

Both projects focused on control system design and implementation, encompassing sensors and actuators, interface electronics, hardware and software integration, and control logic implementation in software (LabVIEW or Arduino)