A simple and flexible experimental laboratory for automatic control courses

This manuscript presents a laboratory used at the Politecnico di Milano for the experimental activity of undergraduate Automatic Control courses. Several different control problems and structures can be experimented with by means of a single apparatus, reasonably priced and very easy to use and maintain. Thanks to the laboratory and activity design, a large number of students can be managed. After a description of the laboratory setup, the activity for the basic course, titled ‘Fundamentals of Automatic Control’, and that for an advanced course, namely ‘Engineering and Technology of Control Systems’, are presented. Some words are also spent on the remote use of the laboratory.