Linear interactive virtual laboratory for system simulation and control

Computer based design and applications in control system education have increased tremendously during last decade resulting in a dependency on computer tools and software related to the subject. However, these software packages are expensive and minimize the contribution of the students in design and analysis of control system by offering predefined solutions to the problems. This limits the work to be done by the student and offenses to the learning process.In this study, it is planned to keep the students in every stage of control system modeling, design and analysis by letting them to model and develop alternative designs in terms of state-space modeling and then testing their designs in the virtual lab proposed here. The virtual control lab introduced here will contribute to the students in modeling and design of linear control systems. The virtual lab provides design opportunity of proportional (P), integral (I), derivative (D) controllers and the combinations of them in group of two or three. In addition to the classical PID controllers, an interface for designing and using fuzzy logic controllers is also included. A visual display window is also included for analyzing and making necessary parameter changes. A performance analysis tool is also developed and included in order to compare the performances of the designed controllers for better utilization.