Experimental Model Based Control Design Using Multibody Codes

In this paper we discuss an on-going project at Cornell University aimed at introducing a significant graphical simulation component in the dynamics and control curriculum, and to expose the students to the interplay between simulations and experiments . This is being achieved by incorporating control experiments from Quanser Consulting, MATLAB control software from the Mathworks, and the Working Model 2D and 3D multibody code software from Knowledge Revolution. The benefits of this approach are both economical and pedagogical; only a limited number of control experiments needs to be purchased and maintained, and it exposes to the students to computer simulation and the relationship between simulations and reality.