Low-Cost DC Motor System for Teaching Automatic Controls

Low-cost DC motor system kits are used by undergraduate students to investigate the basics of automatic controls and enhance their ability to apply classroom theory to real-world applications utilizing Hardware-In-the-Loop (HIL) simulation. The kits provide students with a range of learning experiences, from controller design to reduced order model verification. Additionally, the low-cost kits allow the students the ability to work on an open-ended controller design problem outside of the laboratory. This manuscript presents (1) the DC motor system bill of materials, (2) a pedagogical approach to introducing automatic controls to undergraduate students utilizing HIL simulations, (3) experimentally determined motor parameters for motors used in the kit, (4) a reduced order model for a motor used in the kit, and (5) results contrasting real-world performance of the DC motor used in the kits with that from simulated models based on experimental motor parameters.