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Developing Educational Software for Mechatronics Simulation

Takashi Kenjo, Member, IEEE, Tatsuya Kikuchi, Member, IEEE, and Masatoshi Kubo

Abstract - The need for a mechatronics simulation software is pointed out with special reference to engineering education, after which we present a convenient approach. Our basic algorithm computes the electro-mechanical behavior of electric motors combined with mechanical components like inertial/frictional/torsional loads, including such transmission elements as gears or lead screw/nuts. The simplicity and utility of our mathematical treatment are discussed in terms of its educational merits. The major theory is developed using a brush-type permanent DC motor, but brushless DC and stepping motors are discussed as well. We present three sample software. One is a simple program which demonstrates the computational principles for the electric current in an LRC circuit or the velocity of a suspended mass. The other two simulate the dynamic behavior of a slide table powered by a DC motor via gears and a lead screw. One is written in Microsoft Visual Basic code reflecting the physical meaning of mechanical components and the other is a Visual C++ version using the class library concept. The merits and demerits of these two approaches are discussed from the vantage point of undergraduate education and the retraining of technical instructors and working engineers.

Meanwhile, in actual applications, the motor shaft carries a gearbox or a pulley; some motors have a hollow rotor construction to change its rotation to linear motion to drive the load, which often has a complex construction.

In the conventional curriculum of Japanese universities, perhaps in other countries as well, mechanical engineering students are only required to take a general electrical engineering course covering such topics as power transmission and alternating current theory. Meanwhile, electronic/electric engineering students need only enroll in an overview course on mechanical engineering. Clearly, this is not enough in terms of mechatronics or electro-mechanical education.

There are two approaches to the study of electromechanical systems. One is based on the analogy that holds between mechanical systems and electrical circuits (for instance between mass/inertia and inductance, or elasticity and capacitance); the other is the use of differential equations to compute physical quantities like position, angle, speed, and force.

Electrical engineering students are required to study the theory based on the analogy between electric circuits and dynamic systems, which provides a powerful analytical tool as seen in the work by Haskew and Schinstock [2]. To non-electrical engineering majors, however, viewing mechanical systems as an electrical circuit, sometimes with a voltage-supply and at others with a current-source, often causes confusion. Also, analogy is a convenient method for a system that can be represented as a combination of mass-spring-damper, but it is not almighty in practice.

Developing a simulation software that incorporates both methods - electromechanical analogy and numerical computation of differential equations - should provide a highly versatile and practical tool, being free from the limitations of either method used alone. Moreover, simulation programs may provide a better path into the electromechanical field for non-electrical students in particular, since almost all engineering students today receive some computer training and have access to PCs. Such simulation techniques will naturally be much more effective if it takes advantage of the PC's visual environment.

In order to create numerical computation software on a PC, one must be capable of synthesizing knowledge from various scientific and engineering disciplines. Ideally, those who have studied mathematics, physics, electronic circuitry, mechanisms and computer programming should be able to create their own computation software for their design purposes. This is unrealistic, at least in Japan, for several reasons. First, most electronic and mechanical engineering students are unable to acquire a sufficient proficiency in all these fields during their four-year undergraduate education; and many not even with the added two-three years of a Master's program. Furthermore, very few courses are offered in most universities that deal with the subject of synthesizing different areas of technology to predict the overall behavior of a mechatronics system. This situation can be considerably improved if there existed an educational simulation software, either as a "template" for program development or for effective instruction on the subject of mechatronics itself.

Consider now young engineers at corporate R&D labs, mostly engineering graduates including Master degree holders. They usually cannot afford the time to study such techniques on an individual basis. Meanwhile, they are given a relatively short time frame to design and develop products. Conventional design based on trial-and-error strategies is time-consuming, costly and inadequate for this task. Here too simulation techniques can prove to be powerful tools. Yet, to the authors' knowledge there are no effective software packages available.

Having recognized this situation, the authors have made some initial attempts over the past several years to meet our particular instructional needs. The resulting software is also being tested at a corporate R&D site. As its utility has come to be recognized, we have recently moved to a more systematic development of a simulation software for education and training purposes. This is the first report on its basic concepts and algorithm, including trainee reaction and discussions for future development. A few sample source-level programs are also presented.

A. Permanent-magnet DC Motor

We consider a permanent magnet DC motor using the model shown in Fig. 1. The idea of an equivalent circuit for the DC motor is discussed in reference [3]; here, we present a more expanded model. The key features here are:
1) Brushes are simulated by two diodes placed in reverse parallel (see Appendix A).
2) Winding inductance L_A and resistance R_A are represented in a straightforward manner.
3) Friction and hysteresis brake effects are represented by a current source denoted by i_F and a special symbol resembling a resistor. We prefer to call this path a 'current sink' because a constant current I_o is absorbed independent of the applied voltage. Note, however, that it reverses polarity when the rotational direction reverses (see Appendix B).
4) Eddy-current and viscous losses are represented by R_E. In a typical motor, R_E is larger than the armature resistance R_A by a factor of 10~20. Weissmantel [4] presented many useful equations for computing a permanent-magnet DC motor, but he ignores the effect due to R_E . While this is acceptable for  well-designed motors, this term is included in our scheme (see Appendix B).
5) The rotor inertia (rotor's moment of inertia) is represented by a capacitor C_M.
6) Torque is given by K_Ti, where i is the current and K_T the torque constant, which is also equal to the back-emf constant K_E. The current in each parallel path represents the torque needed (or consumed) in it; for example, K_T multiplied by i_M (the current absorbed in the capacitor) is the torque used to accelerate the rotor (armature), and K_Ti_F is the torque needed to overcome the mechanical friction and retarding torque caused by magnetic hysteresis in the motor's armature core.
7) The voltage v across each element represents the speed w as expressed by the simple equation:

The equations needed to describe the motor's behavior are as follows:
The electric relationship is governed by

Here
V = input voltage
v_B = brush-voltage drop
R_A = winding resistance
L_A = winding inductance, which is here assumed to be independent of rotor's angular position
i_A = armature current which consists of i_M, i_E and i_F:

e = back-emf, which is proportional to the motor's angular speed w_M as expressed by

The torque T_M generated by the motor is computed from the armature current by

The motor's dynamic equation is given by

Here, the three terms on the left-hand side correspond to the three terms on the right-hand side of (3) as follows:
1) Torque to accelerate the rotor:

where J_M is the rotor's moment of inertia.
2) Retarding torque due to mechanical/electric viscosity:

Since the braking torque caused by eddy current is proportional to the speed, we let the viscous damping coefficient D_M represent both mechanical and electric characteristics in this manner.
3) Friction torque as a function of w_M

Instead of non-continuous characteristics we use for the frictional torque a monotonously-increasing continuous function given by

By letting w_Mo take on very small values, i_F assumes step-like characteristics.
By substituting (4), (5) and (9) into (6), we get the following motor equation:

Meanwhile, the following relation applies to the circuit diagram of Fig.1(b):

By comparing these two equations, we can find expressions for the effective resistance R_E and effective capacitance C_M:


Thus, all components including mechanical elements are represented by electric terms. Hence, it is basically possible to analyze a DC motor's dynamic behavior using a circuit simulator. There are, however, at least two problems not normally encountered with electric circuits. One is the treatment for i_F : it is necessary to use a rather complicated function in the simulation code to represent this term. The other is the cogging torque. As we have discussed elsewhere [5], cogging is not a simple phenomenon, having at least two components: one is related to the teeth-magnet interaction, which is deeply related to the magnetic circuit problem, and the other component arises from current commutation taking place in the brush-commutator mechanism. It is difficult to give an accurate description of cogging torque using either conventional circuit simulation software or our present method. A relatively simple treatment, possible with conventional simulator, is to treat K_E as follows:

where K_EO is the center value and K_E the ripple amplitude of the back-emf coefficient.
The angular position _M is the integration of motor speed:

z = typically twice the number of armature teeth [5]
= phase angle which depends on motor construction
This means that K_E is actually not a constant but fluctuates as a function of the rotor's position.

Fig. 1.  (a) A DC motor and (b) Its equivalent-circuit model.

B. Direct Coupling with Inertial Load

We now discuss the case in which a load is directly coupled to the motor shaft, as modeled in Fig. 2(b). The torsion effect between the rotor and the load disk is represented by a coil, or inductance L_S, and the mechanical loss occurring in the load disk is represented by another current sink  i_F2 (= ±I_oL) and another parallel resistor R_E2.

Such systems are known to generate high-frequency mechanical oscillations due to the interaction between the torsion torque and inertia in both rotor and load. This oscillation is damped or suppressed by a damping mechanism, which dissipates kinetic energy in the form of heat; this can also be represented by a resistor R_R and a current sink i_FR in parallel with L_S , as shown in Fig. 2(b). The resistor represents viscous damping and the current sink the frictional cause, whose mathematical treatment is given below.

Fig. 2.  (a) A DC motor with a directly coupled inertial load, and (b) Equivalent circuit expression.

C. Coupling via Gears

We next look at the case in which a load is coupled via a gearbox. Additional factors that must be taken into account are:
1) Speed/torque conversion effect. This can be represented by a transformer symbol, as shown in Fig. 3.
2) Transmission loss due to friction at the contacting surfaces.
3) Damper effect. Since collision and reflection between rack and pinion occurs in the simulation, this can disturb computation. It is necessary to incorporate some effects to absorb the kinetic energy and dampen this type of oscillation.

The mathematical treatment is as follows. First, the dynamic equations for the motor and load are written as:


Similar to the friction inside the motor, the load friction, which corresponds to i_F2 in Figs. 2 and 3, is expressed using appropriate small values of w_Lo as follows:

Here, we interpret that T_S is the torque used to drive the gear as seen from the motor, but the torque which is transmitted by the gear to drive the load is T_S . If the gear's step-down ratio is q (<1), the torque ideally increases by the factor 1/q, but it is adjusted by the factor g(<1). The transmission efficiency  g is related to gear construction, the surface's materials, finish and lubrication conditions, and also differs for forward and backward conditions. As shown in Fig. 4(a), if the pinion is driving the rack, which is the normal condition, the efficiency is forward, but if the rack is driving the pinion, the efficiency is backward. As is well known, the forward efficiency is higher than the backward one.

Coefficients  and  depend on the motor's rotational direction and the contact conditions between the gear teeth. When the motor is driving the load, the forward efficiency g_F is used, but when the load is driving the motor, as when the motor is in generator mode, the backward efficiency g_B is used. This situation is rather complex and can be described as follows:

where

(This statement is not always necessary and can often be simplified depending on the model.)

It is known that for a worm gear or a lead screw, g_F and g_B are given by the following equations.
1) Forward.  When the worm (lead) is driving the rack (nut), the efficiency is:

Here, u is the coefficient of friction at the contacting surfaces, which is said to normally range from 0.05 to 0.15, and  is the lead, as explained in Fig. 5.
2) Backward.  When the rack (nut) is driving back the worm (lead screw), the efficiency is:

In normal cases, this is less than unity and in this case we treat it as 0.

Now, the major component of T_S , which we note by T_SA, is the torque generated by the torsion in the pinion and rack (or worm and rack), but the frictional and viscous torque caused by relative motion between these two parts is added to work as a damper effect. Using relative angle () and relative speed (qw_M - w_L), we put these as follows:

where

T_SA is such as illustrated in Fig.4(b). When the backlash is very small, the model is effectively the same as in Fig. 2. The second and third terms in (24b) respectively correspond to the resistor and current sink in parallel with the spring symbol in  Fig.2, and the same functions are considered to be incorporated more effectively in the gears represented by transformer symbols in  Fig.3.  For  F_R and D_R , we select appropriate values as will be discussed in Section IV, and  we set a small value for w_Ro .
 

Fig. 3.  A DC motor carrying a load via a gearbox and lead screw.

Fig. 4.  (a) Rack and pinion coupling and (b) Torque vs. relative angle. _h  is the backlash size, and the slope (k_S) of the straight portions is the stiffness.
 

Fig. 5.  A worm gear model and definition of lead.

A. LRC Circuit and Mechanically Damped Oscillation

The most basic dynamic equation is

When this is applied to the mechanical spring model of  Fig. 6(a), where a body is suspended via a spring in a viscous liquid, the parameters have the following meanings:
v = body velocity
m = body mass
D = viscous coefficient
k = spring stiffness
f = gravitational force(mG) minus floating force, where G is the acceleration of gravity

The electric circuit equation for the LRC circuit in Fig. 7, which corresponds to this model, is

Most conventional numerical methods for such equations divide it into two first-order equations. Instead of dividing, we write as follows:

From this, we obtain the numerical computation formula:

Certain special cases point to some interesting features. When L is negligible, we let L = 0 to obtain:

This is the same as the normal Euler's forward method.

When the capacitance is infinite or 1/C=0 in (29), we obtain

which is the Euler backward solution for the LR circuit. Thus, (29) contains both the forward and backward methods.
Another feature surfaces when R = 0. The equation for this case is

or

It is known that the variable i or v displays an oscillation with a constant amplitude and constant frequency  .
If Euler's forward method is applied for this case, the computed oscillation will increase in amplitude with time; if the normal backward method is applied, the amplitude will be damped with time. The smaller step-size t is, the more gradual the increase or decrease rate.

When R = 0, equation (29) becomes:

In this method, the oscillation amplitude neither increases or decreases, i.e., stays constant as the analytic solution.

Our basic algorithm is based on the above theory, although we incorporated minor modifications when applying to our educational software. In Appendix C, we briefly discuss the numerical accuracy of (29).

Fig. 6.  (a) Mechanical spring model and (b) Its equivalent circuit expression.
 

Fig. 7.  LRC circuit.

B. Relation to the DC Motor's Equivalent Circuit

Here we add a supplementary explanation to the relationship between the DC motor's equivalent circuit, (26) and (27) and their circuits in Figs. 6(b) and 7. The pendulum can be represented by the parallel circuit shown in Fig.6(b). We assume that the force f applied to the pendulum is divided into three components and flow in the branches for the equivalent capacitor, resistor and inductor.

From the analogy to an electric circuit, we derive the following three relationships:

By substituting these into (35), we obtain (26). Here, note that the physical quantity across each element in Fig. 6(b) has the dimension of velocity but in the DC motor circuits (Figs. 1 and 2) it is voltage and corresponds to speed. In the DC motor circuit, the current is proportional to the torque. This fits with the idea that force is flowing in the branches in Fig. 6(b). Thus, the DC motor circuits of Fig. 1 through 3 can be regarded as a combination of a series electrical circuit of Fig. 7 and an equivalent parallel circuit for a mechanical system as in Fig.6(b). It is easy to see that motor's armature inductance L_A and resistance R_A can be represented respectively by the inductance L and resistance R in Fig. 7. Furthermore, the rotor inertia can be represented by a capacitance C. Note that in Fig. 6(b), the mass m is also represented by a capacitor. Just as the resistor written as 1/D is placed in parallel with the capacitor, resistor R_E and a current sink element are placed in parallel with the capacitor in the DC motor circuit (see Fig. 1).

When the elastic element is fixed at one end, its equivalent element is in parallel with the capacitance in Fig. 6(b). On the other hand, if it exists between two inertial elements, its representation L_S appears between the corresponding capacitors, as in Fig. 2.

As stated earlier, these analogies may at first confuse non-electrical majors. But once the basic concept is understood, they can prove highly useful when analyzing electro-mechanical systems.

C. Application to a Plain DC Motor

We now apply the above method to compute the motor's motional behavior. Equation (2) is rewritten as

Referring to the form of (29), the numerical equation for the n-th current I_n becomes

Note that w_Mn corresponds to the current summation term in (29).

For V_Bn, we derive from (A1)

It is often possible to ignore the motor's armature inductance L_A because the delay of the current build-up due to this effect is very short as compared with the motional effect due to the rotor's inertia. Brush drop v_B is as negligibly low as 0.1V or so in a small motor which uses metalized carbon brushes. In this case, (40) is simplified to:

When the power supply or the driving circuit has a current limiter, this function can be described as follows:

where I_SETn is a set value.
The dynamic equation of (6) is rewritten as

The numerical value for I_Fn is derived from (10) as

From this, the numerical computation equation for w_M is

where t is the step-size of time.
The rotor's angular position is computed simply as:

We then return to (39) to repeat the computation.

For a stepping motor, as well as a brushless DC motor, for which current must be computed for each phase winding, the back-emf in each phase is a function of angular position and the overall computation is rather complicated. See Appendices D and E for these motors.

It is not a difficult task to write a program for a system having more mechanical elements based on the above idea, as long as the number of inertial loads is kept relatively low.  We selected the slide table shown in Fig. 8(a) for producing  sample software. Assembling this machine was a project for one of the overseas instructors' refresher courses in our university. We decided to present to the trainees its simulation software.

Since trainees enrolled in our overseas instructors’ retraining course were assembling, the slide table is driven via a lead screw by a conventional brush DC motor with gearbox. The equivalent circuit representation for this model is shown in Fig. 8(b).

The key components and their parameters are presented below.
1) Motor
The drive motor is a brush-type DC motor with a gearbox with a reduction rate of 20. The estimated parameters are:

(a)

(b)

Fig. 8.  (a) Photograph of sliding table and (b) Its equivalent circuit representation.

B. Expectations on the VB Version as a Teaching Material

The trainees were expected to learn some analytical skills in mechanics and electronics. We felt, however, that a regular classroom lecture on theory would not interest them so much, and thought a simulation could serve as an effective learning tool in understanding the function of the components comprising the table-motor system. Our sample, shown in Fig. 9,  was as follows:
The table is first set at the starting position and the motor is run at a supply voltage of 24V.
When the table touches the limit switch placed at an appropriate position, the motor voltage turns to 0, and the table comes to a stop after a short time lag. The overshoot is observed. The parameters are then changed and the overshoot is checked again. The purpose of this exercise is to determine which factors are important (before any complicated feedback control is introduced).

We wrote two program versions: one in VB and the other in Microsoft Visual C++ (VC++). The VB codes (sample program #2) were written following the flow of logic outlined above and referring to the equivalent circuit of Fig.8(b) so that students and instructors can actually "read" the physical or circuitry concepts within the program lists. Cogging is not dealt with in these samples.

In the VB version, the following parameters can be set in the text boxes on the form and their default values near the quantities presented above.
1) Common

Step-size t

Motor-to-screw backlash _h

Backlash _h2

Fig. 9.  Window of VB version showing simulation results.

 C. Class Library Using VC++

We felt the need to develop a more powerful tool for mechatronics computation. One solution is to use C++ and prepare a class library for mechatronics components. Rather than writing a program for each individual system (as in the above samples), it becomes possible to construct various systems from this library. These systems can then be simulated by inputting the appropriate data. We thus took the alternative approach of developing a C++ program based on the class-library concept (sample program #3).

We believe that our basic algorithm for computing differential equations is suited to building an object-oriented software, where mathematical or algorithmic expressions can be manipulated as though they were "objects" (i.e., physical components). However, the object-oriented class library must be designed very carefully when authoring such software; that is, families and classes must be set up carefully. After analyzing the system of Fig. 8 and referring to some other systems, we decided temporarily on a basic structure for the class library (see Fig. 10). The classes we set are:
1) Parts class (CParts). This is a superclass which has Drive class (CDriver) and Transfer class (CTransfer) as its subclasses. CDriver is defined as the class for something generating speed and position. CTransfer is defined as the class for something generating torque.
2) Motor class (CMotor). This is under CDriver and only the permanent magnet brush-type motor is considered for now. Power-supply parameters are included in this. If we expand to include AC motors, it will be necessary to treat the power supply as a separate class.
3) Gear class (CGear). This lies under CTransfer and includes step-down and step-up mechanisms together with a backlash. Under this class is Lead nut class (CLeadNut).
4) Load class (CLoad). This is, under CDriver, for components having mass or inertia.
5) Terminal class (CTerminal). This lies under CLoad. CTerminal indicates what comes after the last load; there may be nothing, it may be a spring with one end fixed to a stationary base or wall, or it could be assumed as a constant gravitational weight or torque.
(Here class corresponds to the conventional concept of variable type.)
The computation arrangement of objects within classes is shown in Fig. 10.  Each class contains objects (conventional variables), and is designed so that an object in a class can be connected to another object in a different class. Each object remembers its torque, speed and position and transmits them to the objects connected at left and right. The motor is at the far left, and is coupled with the first load via a gear. The first load is coupled with a second load (slide table in our sample), and between them is a gear (lead screw/nut in sample). We set down the general rule that a load is coupled with two transmission elements on each side. These elements usually consist of gears, but on the far right comes a terminal. The terminal for our slide table is an empty object.
 

Fig. 10.  (a) Computation concept for the C++ version for the model shown in (b). Here, ALPHA and ALPHA2 correspond to coefficient   in (17) and the similar coefficient for the coupling between the lead screw and nut, respectively. VISC_FRICT 1 denotes the function of the second and third terms of the right-hand side of (24b). RATIO is the step-down ratio of the gearbox, and PITCH  the lead screw pitch per rotation.WM, WL and VW denote motor speed, lead screw speed and table speed, respectively. LANGL denotes the motor's angular postion, LANGL the lead screw angular postion, and WPOSITION the table position, respectively.

D. Reaction of Trainees

In our refresher course for technical instructors (five, from Malaysia, Mexico, Panama, Saudi Arabia and Tunisia), we first presented a BASIC simulation (sample program #1) which computes the current flowing in an LRC circuit, or the speed of a mass suspended in a viscous liquid by a spring. Its purpose was to review a simple, but important physical phenomenon common to electricity and dynamics, and to learn the computational principles of our algorithm. The simulation here is simply based on the analogy that holds between two separate systems, one mechanical and one electrical, and we are not yet considering an electromechanical system at this stage.  We found this simple example to be a necessary step before moving on to actual electromechanical systems. As expected, the theoretical explanation given in Sections II and III seemed very dry to the trainees, even though they were technical instructors.

After this introductory example, we presented the two versions for the slide table. Fig. 9 shows computed samples for the VB version, and Fig. 11 a sample of the VC++ version. Both versions of visual software were very effective. The source files are given in Programs 2 and 3.

We present the reactions of three trainees. The first trainee, who showed a great interest in all technical subjects, quickly understood the initial BASIC program for the LRC circuit, and remarked "We heard (in our C language course) that C is superior to BASIC, but there are too many things that must be learned before one can actually write programs using C." He asked a good question about the function of a brake, since he was taking one back to his country to install it in his machine. He planned to mount it onto a load that was geared down from the motor shaft. By slightly altering the sample software, we were able to demonstrate in class that a brake is more effective when mounted on the motor shaft than on the load side. We knew from experience that while feedback control is a popular electro-mechanical technique, it is not always an appropriate subject at the introductory level, and that examples showing the effects of fundamental components (such as brakes, reduction rate, various motor parameters) are much more important.

Another trainee, who also showed interest in the BASIC program of the LRC circuit, was interested to see the source program for the VC++ version, but became discouraged when actually presented with it. The trainees were also enrolled in a course on C language, but the VC++ source program appeared to them as an entirely different language.

The third trainee was very interested in seeing how changing parameters would affect the computational results. In her case, understanding the source code was not a high priority.
 

Fig. 11. Windows of the C++ version.

A. Algorithm

First, we shall comment on our basic computation method. As we were aware of the accuracy limitation of the principle presented before, we also used a more accurate method in our research, but there were no significant differences as long as computation results did not diverge by setting a too large step-size t. For accurate computation of the influence of resonance, t must be set at a value smaller than 1/100 of the cycle of the highest natural frequency, but five times this value is sufficient for obtaining an overall profile. However, a step-size larger than this value may make the computation diverge. In the sample program, the minimum cycle-period of natural angular frequency is around 2ms. Hence, t required for accurate computation is 0.02ms, but for the profile computation, it can be 0.1ms.

B. Note on Viscosity and K_EK_T/R_E

We shall comment on one matter about viscosity. This is about the viscosity which is inherently involved in the motor itself.  If L_A and v_B are negligible, we get  from (2) for i_A:

Therefore, (5) becomes as

By substituting this into (17) we obtain

 It is seen in this expression that the armature resistance R_A works effectively as viscosity in addition to D_M, the component due to mechanical viscosity and magnetic hysteresis in the armature core. It is seen in (13) that D_M is expressed as K_EK_T/R_E.  Since in most motors R_E is 10-20 times larger than R_A, the inherent or effective viscosity due to the winding resistance is much greater than the mechanical and magnetic effect. However, when the motor is controlled in the current mode or the current limiter is working, the viscosity due to R_A vanishes. For this reason, the undesirable oscillation that results from the interaction between the motor's inertia and shaft elasticity damps quickly in the voltage control mode, while it may not damp in the current controlled mode. In our slide-table example, this is evident if the maximum current is set, e.g,. at around 0.5A and the screw's moment of inertia is set at a value larger than the default value. It will be seen that the amplitude of this oscillation increases with the backlash in the gearbox.

Although this damping mechanism is not apparent in (42), it is included in it implicitly, and its effect appears in the computation results. This may be a problem beyond the undergraduate level. However, the instructor shall be aware of this important technical matter and ready to answer questions if a student happens to notice this oscillation behavior.

C. Students

Undergraduates: Students in electrical/electronic engineering and mechanical engineering are the ones who have the opportunity to study mechatronics and then work in this area after they graduate. In Japan, most electrical/electronics students are required to take a course in general mechanical engineering, while mechanical engineering students must, in general, take a few subjects in electrical engineering, such as power generation, transmission or alternating current theory. Yet, this usually does not provide them with enough background knowledge to go on to further studies in mechatronics on their own. In particular, many students find it difficult to visualize how the electrical circuitry and mechanical components work together as a single system. It is in this area that we saw the need for an effective teaching aid. As a start, we chose the slide table simulation, thinking that it would serve as an effective visual demonstration which would arouse the interests of students studying mechatronics.

What is the role of commercial software, such as PSpice or Matlab, in the context of mechatronics education? These are used by many researchers who take advantage of their advanced functions to conduct research. If they are to be used in undergraduate instruction, an introductory course should be provided where students can become proficient with their use. Purchasing such commercial software for undergraduate purposes can be very costly. Another problem with these simulation software is that many of the algorithms are treated as black boxes, making it difficult for instructors to give a clear explanation to their students. Thus, in undergraduate instruction, the authors believe that it is better to use an algorithm that can be seen and understood by students, and for which source code can be accessed and modified by instructors. Such an educational tool would effectively complement classroom lectures and laboratory workshops.

Before establishing our simulation method in this fashion, we presented an early prototype to ten third-year students. In this class we explained the computation principle using the Euler forward method and gave them an assignment to simulate the square-wave oscillation produced in an astable multivibrator, which is composed of two transistors. DOS BASIC (BASIC) was used as the PC language.  This was a difficult assignment for them, and we felt that even though the computer language was the easiest available, dealing with several aspects (PC language, mathematical principle and electronic circuit) at the same time is very inefficient. Well-organized demonstrations are needed as a tool for undergraduates.

Graduates: Our basic method combined with instructive sample programs should provide the graduate student in mechatronics with a solid background in simulation techniques, thus enabling him/her to move on to further advanced subjects and tools. For example, a Master's candidate at our university acquired a good understanding of simulation using our program, which he applied toward his thesis project. Knowledge of our software also helped him to effectively utilize Matlab to simulate more complicated systems. For relatively simple systems, i.e., those with up to three or four inertial elements, computational results agree well between our program and Matlab. (For a relatively large system of five inertial elements, for example, Matlab was often easier to use.) We found that special cases, such as the inclusion of cogging torque, could be incorporated into our program much easier because we were already familiar with its limits and possibilities.

D. Instructors

As stated before, we asked overseas technical instructors to give their reactions to demonstrations of the VB and VC++ version simulations of the slide table. The visual presentation was received very favorably. We also found that instructors generally preferred a sample program from which computational principles can be "read" and understood (in this case, the VB version), instead of one which merely provided a convenient black box tool. Some of them expressed interest in our simple computational algorithm for differential equations.

Questionnaire results on familiar computer languages showed that most knew BASIC, while some were also familiar with C, Pascal or assembly. Since FORTRAN and BASIC were the major computer languages in the 1980s, most instructors who are now over the age of thirty received their computer training in these languages. Thus, this group of instructors responded more favorably to VB than VC++. Not being programming specialists, they were more at ease with the VB simulation.

For technical instructors, it makes more sense to prepare sample software which can be modified to suit specific instructional situations. From the initial reactions obtained from our overseas instructors, however, it would seem that a simpler example may have worked better in inciting their motivation. For example, the following items may be mentioned:

Step-size (t ) (see V. Discussion in Section A above.)

E. R&D Engineers

Corporate R&D sections demand a simulation tool that can be used for practical design purposes. There are two types of design engineers working in the mechatronics field: the first views simulation software as a purely utilitarian tool, regarding it as a black box but demanding from it a high functionality; the second type is not satisfied until he or she can comprehend the "logic" of the simulation process. For the latter engineers, simulation software developed originally as instructional aids may prove useful at a practical as well as educational level.  The author's direct contact with some R&D engineers has shown that they see great value in Visual Basic as a tool for developing mechatronics software. The developed simulator, when combined with an interface to incorporate experimental data/design parameters, can be a highly effective design tool.

Most working engineers are of the first type, more interested in tools that can be put to immediate practical use in their daily tasks; they normally do not have the luxury of expanding their knowledge outside their specialized fields. Thus, it would be unrealistic to expect mechanical engineers to spend much time studying electricity and electronics from their theoretical foundations. What is important is to provide an environment that would allow engineers to obtain relevant knowledge rather quickly through practical exercises, and for this, appropriate tools are needed. We believe that the development of a VC++ based simulation program, the initial form of which we have proposed in this paper, could provide one solution in this respect. A truly practical VC++ mechatronics simulation software will be realized only after further efforts are spent in a thorough component analysis, their integration into a coherent system, and actual program development.

We wrote a sample program using VB with plain animation, and another version in VC++ combining sophisticated three-dimensional (3-D) animation; the latter represents an initial step towards the object-oriented approach.

The simulation programs were demonstrated to a class of overseas technical instructors, who showed a high enthusiasm toward their visual presentation. As educators themselves, they generally saw value in open software whose source codes can be directly accessed, while those in their thirties showed a higher interest in the VB version also for its familiarity and accessibility. Even so, the "virtual reality" effect produced by the 3-D animation in the VC++ version seemed to them a highly attractive feature.

From the standpoint of future expandability, the authors feel that a program based on a C++ class-library is preferable; the sample program given here thus represents an initial attempt and we discussed issues related to its further development. Indeed, several problems must be addressed before a robust versatile package can be fully developed along this line.

The general approach presented here should help students and educators alike in deepening their understanding of electro-mechanical science, as well as providing a practical design-and-analysis tool in the industrial R&D sector.

Fig. 12.  Measurement of brush drop and approximation curve. 

Fig. 13.  If a hysteresis motor, which is a type of ac motor, is used for the load, the current consumed in the DC motor is expressed by a constant current corresponding to the hysteresis-brake effect, and a speed-dependent portion caused mainly by the eddy-current brake effect. The former is represented by I_o and the latter by R_E.

Fig. 14.  Accuracy of our computation method for non-damped oscillation for large t: (a)t=and (b)t= slightly larger than .

Fig. 15.  Accuracy of our computation method for: (a)Non-oscillatory damping. (b) and (c) Damped oscillation. 

, mutual-inductance of each stack, which are also ideally identical to each other.

= angular position.

where V_o is the power supply voltage and V_D the flyback diode's forward voltage, which is normally about 0.6V.

Torque T_M is computed from:

Here T_COG is the cogging torque, which is defined as the fluctuating torque that is generated not by the exciting current but by the interaction between tooth construction and the rotor's magnetization [5]. We assume from some experimental results that it is given by :

where T_G is an appropriate cogging amplitude, which may be negative. This simple expression is explained as follows. When the two stacks are symmetric with respect to the center and have the same conditions except for a quarter-pitch shift, the major cogging component occurs 4p cycles per revolution. This is normally very small, but if there is any imbalance between stacks, a considerable cogging torque of 2p cycles per revolution apperas; this is expressed by the above equation.

The speed is computed in a manner similar to the case of a DC motor, i.e., from (6). The numerical computation is based on the form of (46).

A major problem for beginners may be the algorithm for computing current from the basic  (D1) to (D4). There are several practical methods, but the following one follows the concept presented before. By eliminating i₃ from (D1) and (D2), we get

We obtain another equation

Similar to (29), the numerical solution for i₁ and i₃ are :

The function of the flyback diode can be incorporated in such a manner that if the computed value of  i_1n or i_3n becomes negative, then it is replaced by zero. Similar forms are derived for the currents i₂ and i₄ in the B stack.

A source program produced on this concept will be obtained from our WEB site.

Fig. 16.  (a) A driving circuit for a four-phase stepping motor and (b) A claw-tooth stepping motor. 

p

p

p

For accurate calculation of cogging torque, we must carry out direct computation of the total torque from magnetic circuit rules considering tooth construction, as shown in an example of a normal DC motor in Reference [5]. One type of brushless DC motor is dealt with in the Japanese paper [7], in which it is seen that though there are considerable phase differences between the magnetic circuit computation and that based on (E8), there are no big differences in the magnitude of total torque ripple as long as the fifth-harmonic  is appropriately included in the back-emf wave forms.

Similar to a stepping motor, voltages V_A , V_B , V_C are dependent on the drive circuit topology and use of position sensors, and a program must be produced for each scheme. The normal circuit is such as shown in Fig. 17. We will provide the source program from our WEB site for the 120-degree conduction mode, which is the most common method for driving memory disks in a computer.

Fig. 17.  Bridge circuit for a three-phase brushless DC motor.

[2] T. A. Haskew and D. E. Schinstock, "Optimal Design of Electromechanical Actuators for Active Loads," IEEE/ASME Trans. Mechatronics, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 129-137, June 1998.

[3] T. Kenjo and S. Nagamori, Permanent-magnet and Brushless DC motors, U.K.: Oxford Univ. Press, 1985.

[4] H. Weissmantel, "Einige Grundlagen zur Berechnung bei der Anwendung schnell hochlaufender, traegheitsarmer Gleichstromkleinst-motoren mit Glockenlaeufer," Feinwerktechnik & Messtechnik, vol. 84, pp. 165-174, Germany: Carl Hanser Verlag, 1976.

[5] T. Kikuchi and T. Kenjo, "In-depth Learning of Cogging/Detenting Torque Through Experiments and Simulations," IEEE Trans. Educ., vol. 41, no. 4, CD-ROM12, Nov. 1998.

[6] T. Kenjo and A. Sugawara, Stepping Motors and their Microprocessor Controls, 2nd ed., U.K.: Oxford Univ. Press, 1993.

[7] T. Igarashi and T. Kenjo, "A Dynamic Simulation Method for Brushless DC Motor Considering Cogging Mechanism (In Japanese)," Proceedings of JIEE Rotary Machinery Symposium, RM-98-25, June 1998.

Tatsuya Kikuchi
Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Tokyo Institute, Polytechnic University of Japan
2-32-1, Ogawanishi, Kodaira, Tokyo 187-0035 JAPAN
Phone: 81-42-346-7139
Fax: 81-42-344-5609
E-mail: tkikuchi@ieee.org

Masatoshi Kubo
Department of Information Technology
Kanagawa Prefectural Junior College for Industrial Technology of Japan
2-4-1, Nakao, Asahi, Yokohama, Kanagawa 241-0815 JAPAN
Phone: 81-45-363-1992
Fax: 81-45-362-7141
E-mail: kubo@kanagawa-cit.ac.jp

Tatsuya Kikuchi (M'95) received the B.S. (1984) and M.S. degrees (1997) in electronic engineering from the Polytechnic University, Kanagawa, Japan. From 1985 to 1992, he worked as a design engineer of servomotor controls. From 1992 to 1998, he was an Instructor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Electronics at the Polytechnic Centers in Aichi, then Kanagawa prefectures. Since 1998, he has been working at the Tokyo Institute of the Polytechnic University of Japan. His interests include mechatronics and multimedia computing.

Masatoshi Kubo received the B.S. degree in mathematics from Yokohama City University, Kanagawa, Japan in 1988. From 1988 to 1995, he was instructor at Fujisawa Vocational Training School in Kanagawa. Since 1995, he has been teaching in the Department of Information Technology at Kanagawa Prefectural Junior College of Industrial Technology. His main interests are computer graphics and programming languages.
 

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