BALL AND HOOP APPARATUS

BALL AND HOOP APPARATUS

The CE109 Ball and Hoop Apparatus shows the use of electromechanical servo systems for position and velocity control. It also works as a model to show liquid slop problems, for example: aircraft missile fuel storage, fuel tankers and industrial pumping systems.

The apparatus has a steel ball that rolls inside a hoop. The hoop is free to rotate, but controlled by a servomotor. Transducers give outputs of the hoop and ball positions. When the hoop is under angular position control, the ball moves like a cylindrical pendulum. This allows students to use it as a model for the study of liquid slop dynamics.

Advanced studies cover:

• The influence of liquid slop behaviour on vehicle control system design
• The use of ‘pole zero’ in the analysis of control systems

IMPACT recommend that you use the optional Tachometer (OT1) for experiments in calibration of hoop velocity. Also, if you are not using the optional software, then an Oscilloscope (OS1) will help to analyse the transient signals in some experiments.