The Virtual Control Laboratory Paradigm: Architectural Design Requirements and Realization Through a DC-Motor Example

摘要

The architectural requirements of an effective Virtual Control Laboratory (VCL) are described from a generalized perspective that takes into account the objective of supporting flexible, active, and discovery learning. It is argued that a Web-publishable VCL accessible via standard browsers maximizes flexibility. A realization of the proposed architectural paradigm is presented in the form of a VCL specialized for the control of a DC motor, organized in a modular fashion in terms of an animation panel that provides a visual sensorial perception of the evolution of the state of the plant, an interaction panel that allows the student user to change key parameters of the plant and controller, and a navigation panel that consists of five tabbed windows. The windows can be selected one at the time, and they present to the student a users' guide, information about the plant, a description of the controller, as well as analysis and time-domain simulation results. The analysis window includes all the classical results of linear control theory, including the characterization of dynamic features such as the time-domain step response, the frequency-domain Bode plots, and the location of poles and zeros. In addition, the DC-Motor VCL is able to yield analysis and simulation results for open-loop as well as closed-loop configurations. A number of pedagogical scenarios where the VCL can be used to the benefit of the students' learning experience are discussed.