engleski

Application of Computer Vision and Python Scripts as Educational Mechatronic Platforms for Engineering Development in STEM Technologies

This paper presents the process of designing, fabrication, assembling, programming and optimiz-ing a prototype of a nonlinear mechatronic Ball-Plate System (BPS) as a laboratory platform for STEM engineer education. Due to the nonlinearity and complexity of BPS, task presents challeng-ing issues, such as: 1) difficulties in controlling the stabilization of a given position point known as steady state error, 2) position resolution known as specific distance error and 3) adverse environ-mental effects - light shadow error, also discussed in this paper. The laboratory BPS system for education was designed, manufactured and installed at the Karlovac University of Applied Sci-ences at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, study of mechatronics. The low cost two de-grees BPS system uses a USB HD camera for computer vision as feedback and two DC servomo-tors as actuators. Due to controlling problems, an advanced block diagram of control system is proposed and discussed. An open source control system based on Python scripts that allows the use of ready-made functions from the library allows changing the color of the ball and the param-eters of the PID controller, thus indirectly simplifying control system and directly the mathemati-cal calculation.

Ball-Plate System ; STEM ; USB HD camera ; Python scripts ; ready-made functions ; PID controller

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