Research Questions/ Specific GoalsResearch Questions/ Specific Goals

Methodology/ DiscussionsMethodology/ Discussions

Incorporating an Inverted Pendulum into the UCLA Incorporating an Inverted Pendulum into the UCLA Controls Course Curriculum Controls Course Curriculum

Terrell Darden, Manda Paul, Jo Tsai, Ivan Pinto, Henrik Borgstrom, Stoytcho Stoychev, William KaiserCENS Undergraduate Research-Ascent Lab

Introduction Introduction

Why is the Inverted Pendulum Needed•An inverted pendulum is a pendulum which has its mass above its pivot point. The system allows the motion of the cart to be commanded while maintaining the pendulum, and balancing the cart-pendulum system.

•The inverted pendulum is a benchmark for testing control algorithms that the students can use to learn using quality hands on experience.

•The goal is to have every student in the UCLA Controls course use their own Inverted Pendulum materials while engaging in quality hands on experience. They will learn the coding, programming, and physical components of the system from a basic perspective.

•My first step was gathering the whole perspective on why students learn better using hands on experience, what an inverted pendulum is and the project goals.

•My second step was learning about the trend in enrollment in the UCLA Controls Course which shows approximately 10% increase in the last year. This supports a need for cost-effective hands-on kits for classroom use.

•The third step was to identify advantages of using the controls kit in the classroom versus traditional curriculum methods.

•The fourth step was to make a cost-analysis on component parts. The current system design total of $21,023 (300 students for 2 years)

•My fifth approach was to find ways to make the Controls Course fun and exciting while students are learning on a fast pace quarter system.

•The next step on this project is to package this information in a pamphlet to provide instructors.

Why is hands on experience better for students entering the ULCA controls course in 2010

•Students can increase their view of world applications and provides the students with more advanced topics and interesting problems to solve.

•Labs contain interesting problems that students share which make the hands on experience more beneficial to the students.

The student’s goal is to build a control system for the inverted pendulum at the most effective and robust cost

•Students will be presented a PowerPoint on how to build the inverted pendulum system along with the help of mentors and other classmates.

UCLA – UCR – Caltech – USC – UC MercedUCLA – UCR – Caltech – USC – UC Merced

Center for Embedded Networked SensingCenter for Embedded Networked Sensing

Discussions:

Say if we have 116 students entering in the controls course in Fall of 2010. We can cut the price in half by having 2 groups of disadvantage to that is that everyone will be forced to learn on their own which can be very stressing. How about having groups of 10 which can be very beneficial, because it is less people and will add less stress. We can have one inverted pendulum per group and everyone will have a part of a pendulum that they can work on. The goal is to have every student in the class to have one of these inverted pendulums individually, so that they may learn better hands on and a lot quicker. A projection of what UCLA will be paying over a period of 4 years is a total of $60,000 dollars, which includes the increase of students over the years. The total cost of the tools used to build the Inverted Pendulum is $21,023.00 dollars. This price is a total of a 2 year enrollment of the UCLA Controls Course

•Create a competition to see which student can learn the basics of lab view in a week.

•Create a competition to see if student scan learn MatLab basics in a week.

•Have the students ask questions about what he/she learned in that week of learning the basics.

•We can have these type of competitions weekly to enhance the students experience or it can be based on the students preference.

•Make a video on building the inverted pendulum from the ground up along with the circuitry of the breadboards.

What are the ways the curriculum can be catered towards the students?