Design of an Economical Student-built Automatic Control System

Economical student-owned and built laboratory equipment is proposed as a means to increase student exposure to hand-on learning activities without the consumption of resources normally associated with offering a traditional laboratory course. The case presented is that of a course intended to expose students to the workings of an auto-pilot of a ship. It is shown that the mathematical basis behind a ball-and-beam control system is substantially the same as that behind a ship’s auto-pilot, allowing the use of similar design processes for both. A bill of materials totaling less than $60 US is provided to allow students to build their own working models of the control system. A variation of the technique was piloted at the authors’ institution with good success: all students who attempted to design a working controller were able to do so and successfully demonstrate it. It is concluded that the use of student-built laboratory equipment is a viable option for expanding the hand-on component of otherwise theoretical courses in at least some circumstances.