An approach to design of the cyber-physical systems for engineering-education

Abstract

Cyber-physical systems are an integration of physical and virtual reality. In this paper, we propose to design and use of one kind of cyber-physical systems in engineering education. In a limited condition of use physical plants for an experimental educational purpose, we can design and use virtual plants in real-time interaction with hardware for control, measurement, conditioning and acquisition of signals, etc. In our case hardware part of the system is consisting of PLC/HMI devices with connected DC or AC motors with integrated gearboxes and encoders. Virtual part of the system is a controlled plant which is designed in LabVIEW software package. Virtual part of the system is implemented on PC which is connected with PLC/HMI via NI USB 6008 AD/DA card and designed physical interface for signal conditioning. The proposed approach is tested in related to several control engineering educational examples which include designing of the experimental setup with virtual plant, and design, implementation and verification of control law. The mentioned examples are concerning with three different types of control engineering problems: 1) discrete event system, 2) process control system, and 3) mechatronics system. These exercises are prepared for implementation in Go-Lab repository via local WEB Laboratory and for educational materials. Our intention is that students can find on the Internet portal a detail tutorial how can produce and use cyber-physical system for educational needs.