PID Controller Gone Viral

Date 2024-10-21

Christian Moser inspired over a million users on Instagram with a short video of his bachelor's thesis project

Now, he has successfully completed his project and therefore also his bachelor's degree in Mechatronics and gives an insight into the details of his work.

In the “Ball on a Plate” system, the inclination of a plate is controlled in order to regulate the position of a ball on top of the plate.

The idea for this project arose from a fascination for control engineering and the possibility of implementing theoretical concepts in a real, tangible model. During his research, Christian Moser came across various approaches for ball-plate systems, which inspired him to develop his own prototype.

The system uses a touchscreen to track the ball position and a microcontroller to adjust the plate tilt via servomotors. The development involved mechanical engineering, such as the design and construction of the plate and its mounts, as well as the programming of the control algorithms.

Various challenges arose during implementation, particularly in the integration of hardware and software and the reduction of interference signals. For example, the inaccurate position detection of the touchscreen led to unstable control. This problem was mitigated by implementing a digital filter in the software code.

In conclusion, Christian Moser says that the project not only deepened his knowledge of control engineering, but also provided valuable insights into the practical application of complex engineering concepts. With the start of the MCI master's degree program in Mechatronics – Smart Technologies, he is already devoting himself to the next big project and a new challenge.

 

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