AFF059 Quadruple Tank for Height Control Didactic Equipment Hydrodynamics Experiment Apparatus
A highly reconfigurable handson process control experiment
The Quanser Coupled Tanks is a nonlinear, reconfigurable system for liquid level/process control experiments. The system consists of two tanks and a pump. Each tank is instrumented with a pressure sensor to measure the liquid level.
One of the great features of the Coupled Tanks experiment are the different configurations in which it can be set up, and therefore, a variety of experiments that you can perform:
1.Single Input Single Output (SISO) system
In this setup, the pump feeds directly into the Tank 1, where the liquid level is measured using the pressure sensors. Tank 2 is not used. The objective is to regulate or track the liquid level in the Tank 1.
2.Statecoupled SISO system
In this configuration, the pump feeds into the Tank 1, which in turn feeds into the Tank 2. The controller needs to regulate or track the liquid level in the Tank 2 through the voltage applied to the pump.
3.Statecoupled and Inputcoupled SISO system
Here, the pump feeds into the Tank 1 and Tank 2 using a split flow. Tank 1 also feeds into the Tank 2. The objective is for the controller to regulate or track the liquid level in the Tank 2 by using the pump.
The ‘disturbance tap’ adds even more flavor to the experiments. It can be used to study the robustness of different control algorithms. You can also change the inlet and outlet orifice diameters to change the flow rate into and out of the tanks, effectively modifying the dynamics of the system.
Takeaway
The Coupled Tanks is probably the most versatile system in Quanser’s offering. With the three different configurations, the disturbance tap, and small, medium, and large inlet/outlet orifice diameters, you can have many different dynamics systems. This system can cater to teaching classic control right up to doing research.