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Ball and Plate Tutorial

Before continuing, make sure you have read Chapter 14.

System Description

The ball and plate system is somewhat similar in nature to the inverted pendulum system. The object is to balance a ball on a flat metal plate by tilting the plate to move the ball. This problem will be discussed in one dimension only.

The diagram shows the layout of the system. Motors tilt the plate via an arm attached to it, and the ball rolls in the appropriate direction under the force of gravity.

A cascaded control system will be used to control the ball and plate apparatus, as shown in the diagram below.

Overview of the Example

It is recommended that you follow the example in order, but you may skip ahead if you wish:

Part 1 The problem of backlash

Photo of the System

A photo of the system (along with a description of the physical system) can be found here.