Development of a 2 degrees of freedom tracking system. Part II: controller design and implementation

Abstract

Platform stabilization and control problems are a major field of study in control systems. For a long period of time, analog control schemes using op-amps for gain, as differentiators and as integrators were used and are still used but they require complex circuitry even for simple PI controllers. With the advent of the digital era this approach has changed. Now even complex closed loop control schemes are easily achievable using programmable gains and adjustable parameters. Different scenarios require different control schemes that optimize different parameters of the systems closed loop response. Object tracking requires a highly stable platform capable of tracking high speed moving targets. This paper is the continuation of our previous paper in which we discussed the design and construction of a real time target tracker, a 2 DOF platform with emphasis on its stability and balanced weight distribution. In this paper we discuss the digital control scheme for the closed loop control of the designed platform.