A novel intelligent control laboratory for undergraduate students in engineering

In this paper, the development of an interdisciplinary intelligent control laboratory is presented. The main objective of the laboratory is to substantially improve the instructional capability of undergraduate instructions in intelligent systems analysis and design. The project addresses simple, robust and effective implementations of soft computing techniques for several educational and industrial applications including: servo systems, heat trainers, inverse pendulums, twin rotor systems and visual component inspection stations. The development is carried out through the adaptation of innovative industrial design techniques, incorporation of real-time sensory interfacing and other applicable industrial advances, which have already been utilized in several manufacturing industries. The implementation of an undergraduate intelligent system laboratory can serve as a model for other institutions in the nation.