Ball and Beam
ACROME Ball and Beam System is ideal to introduce students to the fundamental and intermediate principles of controls. Let’s teach automatic control with Ball and Beam!
OVERVIEW
Apply control theory in real-life with ACROME Ball and Beam! The ball and beam system consists of a long beam together with a ball rolling back and forth on top of the beam. The long beam tilted by a servo. Our Ball and Beam System provides practicing the automatic control theory on a closed loop experiment. Controlling the position of a ball on a beam is one of the classical problems of control theory. Ball and Beam System can be used for a wide range of control system design implementations from basic linear controllers to advanced nonlinear methods. Students are able to understand system design approaches with Ball and Beam’s learn-by-doing method. With the help of the courseware, they can distinguish effects of linearizations, assumptions and modeling errors due to the differences between simulations and real world experiments.
SOFTWARE
- Altair Activate
- Executable & GUI
- Python | MatLab/Simulink
- LabVIEW, Real-Time, FPGA (optional)
- C with STM32 software
CONTROLLER
- Raspberry Pi + Shield
- NI myRIO | Arduino Mega + Shield
PRODUCT PHOTOS



SPECIFICATIONS
Payload
260 gr.
Workspace
± 10° in Pitch
Position Repeatability
± 1mm.
Angular Sensitivity
0.36°
Max. Speed
0.2 sec/60°
Height (min-max) / Weight
130mm. - 150mm. (± 2mm.) / 2,750 gr.
Platform Dimensions (Length * Width)
570mm. * 70mm. (± 2mm.)
Base Dimensions (Length * Width)
650mm. x 200mm. (± 2mm.)
Power Requirement
12 V - 2,5 A
Ball Diameter
40mm. (± 1mm.)
Motor Type
RC Servomotors with Built-In Encoder
Feedback Sensors
Linear Potentiometer
FEATURES
Assembled and ready to control plant with the integrated power unit
Implementation of advanced digital control techniques
Fully documented system models and parameters provided for MATLAB®/Simulink®, LabVIEW™
Actuating the table by RC servo motor, which is familiar to students
Open architecture with extensive courseware, suitable for undergraduate courses for engineering disciplines related to control systems
Getting Started Program with rich Graphical User Interface for out-of-the-box user experience
Fully compatible with MATLAB®/Simulink® and LabVIEW™
Actuating the table by RC servo motor, which is familiar to students
Enables students to create their own real-time algorithms
FAQs
CURRICULUM
Potentiometer Sensor
Controller
Acrome Power Distribution BoxMechanics of the System
Steady State Response and Steady State Error
Generating PWM Signals Driving
RC Servos with PWM Signals
PID controller and Fuzzy Logic Controller
Comparing the Simulation and Real System Responses for Different Controllers
Newton’s Law of Motion
Modeling of Actuator
Obtaining Transfer Function
Experimental Bode Diagram
Cut-Off Frequency Determination
Derivative Filtering
RELATED BLOGS
Understanding PID Control: 2-DOF Ball Balancer Experiments
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