Simulation as Applied to the Design of Interactive Control Systems

Abstract

The design of an interactive control system used in the electromechanical transport of an optical reading system was performed, using both analog and digital simulations. Included are laboratory data and traces taken from an engineering breadboard. The equations of motion are developed and are found to be highly nonlinear which cannot be solved by a closed-form analytical solution, and thus a simulation approach was required. Results of the digital solution are compared with the analog solution with emphasis on the similarities and differences of the two approaches. Simulation plots are compared to traces of the control signals of the actual system. This leads to significant insight into the strength and weaknesses of the simulation approach.