Control System Teaching and Experiment Using LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT Robot

Abstract

Abstract-Control system Teaching in new era is quite challenging, because many control concepts are formulated in the form of mathematics. In this paper, LEGO Mindstorms NXT connected with MATLAB/Simulink is introduced to assist the control system teaching. Lego Mindstorms NXT builds a mobile robot which includes two servomotors and one infrared light sensor. PID controller is designed in MATLAB/Simulink to achieve the line tracking of the mobile robot. Using the Ziegler-Nichols method, three key coefficients (proportional, integral and derivative) are tuned to get optimal control. The performance of PID controller has been validated by a series of experiments at different designed trajectories. Using the proposed method, the students can analyze and test the PID controller conveniently. These methods can also be extended to other similar courses.Index Terms-LEGO Mindstorms NXT, line tracking, MATLAB/SIMULINK, PID control.

Physical visualization of math concepts using LEGO Mindstorms

“…In educational experiences with robots, it is necessary to select a physical system that meets the academic and practical requirements for the teaching of concepts. LEGO Mindstorms is a flexible and affordable tool that allows the development of educational experiences in different education levels taking into account it includes physical components (block construction) and software (programming) (Souza et al, 2018), which motivates students and improves the success rate in the teaching of concepts (Ding et al, 2017).…”

“…Kipp and Schneider (2017) describe how to create a social robotics class where students interact with LEGO Mindstorms EV3. Additionally, Ding et al (2017) and Wu et al (2018) use LEGO Mindstorms NXT to teach control subjects such as the design of a PID controller for line tracking (Ding et al, 2017), and dynamic systems (analysis of first and second order systems) and the design of a PD controller (Wu et al, 2018). The RE at the undergraduate level focuses mainly on the teaching of programming, robotics, modeling, and control.…”

“…One of the most commonly used robotic platforms for educational purposes is the LEGO Mindstorms because they are versatile and attractive to students, have a graphic programming environment and include a wide variety of sensors and actuators that facilitate the testing of robotic applications (Afari & Khine, 2017;Chaudhary et al, 2016;Souza et al, 2018). These kits have been used mainly in the development of applications in K-12 Education and, to a lesser extent, for the teaching of robotics, control, modeling, programming and integrated systems at the undergraduate education level (Ding, Li, & Pan, 2017;Kim, Oh, Choi & Tsourdos, 2014;Wu, de Vrie, & Dunsworth, 2018). During our research for related work, we observed little evidence of the use of these kits for the teaching of basic science subjects such as mathematics and physics.…”

Dynamic analysis, modeling and control of the LEGO EV3 modular mobile platform

“…If the desired velocity of the center of the platform v and the desired angular velocity of the platform ω are known, the necessary velocity points v R and v L can be determined using (4). Therefore, the required angular velocities of the wheels are given by (5).…”

“…The conceptual model-based approach for modular complex system development can be regarded as the main contribution of Suri et al [2], which can be applied to industrial cyber-physical systems. These kinds of platforms are good for education, in specific tasks like teaching many theoretical algorithms [3][4][5][6]. Several authors have dedicated their work to finding optimal methods for controlling mobile robotic devices [7][8][9][10].…”