Development of a Simple Interactive Laboratory Exercise for Teaching the Principles of Velocity and Position Estimation

This paper presents the development of a simple yet effective undergraduate laboratory exercise for teaching the basics of actuator velocity and position measurement in a direct, hands-on practical experience. The exercise development combines various engineering aspects and uses a software routine to control and perform real-time measurements on a small-scale, in-house built, laboratory actuator test rig through a commercial instrumentation and development prototyping board. The exercise is interactive as the parameters that manipulate the laboratory test rig operation can be set in real time using the developed software routine, thus enabling the students to efficiently investigate the practical implications of taught theoretical concepts. This is achieved through a graphical user interface that allows the students to step through the individual stages of the exercise and perform the required measurements, analysis and recording of data.