Computer Feedback Filter

I installed Linux on my office computer today, because Windows was sometimes crashing. Then, using secure shell (SSH) I remotely accessed the supercomputer that receives the input signal from the HE sensors. With the Foton software, I created a preliminary feedback filter with an integrator and a damping factor. Assuming a normal response function R(s)=1/[m(s²+ω_n²-γs)] for our plate, the transfer function is very large near the resonance frequency (where s² and ω_n² cancel) and at small frequencies (where only the resonance frequency term, presumably small, remains). Therefore, we need our feedback filter to add to the response function of the plate; the integrator --proportional to s--adds a large term near small frequencies, and the damping factor--proportional to s--adds another factor near the resonance frequency. I designed the filter so that the cut-off frequencies occur at roughly 2, 5, 20, and 200Hz. Below are the results. WIth the correct gain factor, we have a unity gain from 2Hz to 5Hz.

DC Motors

We tried to test the motors, but they did not move as fast. Apparently, we had include a 3.6kΩ resistor in series with them, using a 15V source; no wonder they did not work. We replaced the 3.6kΩ resistors with 1kΩ ones and achieved a better movement.

HE sensors output

We compared the bits of the input signal digitally diagnosed with the output signal of the HE signal measured manually with a voltage meter to check whether the correspondence made any sense. I plotted the pair of data ( {millivolts, bits}, ..) and found the best fit for the data; the slope was 1.64 (1mV corresponds to 1.64bits). For our ADC converters, 20V correspond to 2¹⁶ or (65536) bits, so 1mV corresponds roughly to 3.3bits. However, the bits correspond to the voltage difference, so the actual readings for the bits should be half (1mV=2¹⁵/20=1.638bits). Our conversion works. 

Simulink

I started using Simulink and looked at Rana's examples. I will keep building our setup with Simulink to ultimately simulate the behavior of our plate.