Simulink and Simelectronics based Position Control of a Coupled Mass-Spring Damper Mechanical System

Abstract

This paper presents the use of Simelectronics Program for modeling and control of a two degrees-of freedom coupled mass-spring-damper mechanical system.The aims of this paper are to establish a mathematical model that represents the dynamic behaviour of a coupled mass-spring damper system and effectively control the mass position using both Simulink and Simelectronics.The mathematical model is derived based on the augmented Lagrange equation and to simulate the dynamic accurately a PD controller is implemented to compensate for the oscillation sustained by the system as a result of the complex conjugate pair poles near to the imaginary axis.The input force has been subjected to an obstacle to mimic actual challenges and to validate the mathematical model a Simulink and Simelectronics models were developed, consequently, the results of the models were compared. According to the result analysis, the controller tracked the position errors and stabilized the positions to zero within a settling time of 6.5sec and significantly reduced the overshoot by 99.5% and 99. 7% in Simulink and Simelectronics respectively. Furthermore, it is found that Simelectronics model proved to be capable having advantages of simplicity, less time-intense and requires no mathematical model over the Simulink approach.