This lab sheet is designed to guide students through the experimentation they will need to conduct in order to complete the continual assessment element of their NG3H235 studies.The lab has been designed to cover a number of elements of control system design and synthesis, which are addressed in lectures. The objectives are:
1. to investigate the control of water level in a lab scale non-linear water tank which is fed by a centrifugal pump and discharges to a sump tank through a valve,
2. to understand the dynamics of the water tank by modelling it from first principles and by applying step tests to identify the system model at various operating points,
3. to design a proportional + integral controller for a specific operating point, implement it in software (as an analogue s-domain system, i.e. very fast sampling).
4. To allow scope for further investigations.