Over the summer of 2017 I was lucky enough to work as a student researcher in a Mechatronics design laboratory at my local university where I performed experiments regarding control systems and the behavior of motors, electrical circuits, and water pumps. In this Behance project I will outline some of the different systems I worked with and my experiences with them. In the pictures above I have shown the setup I used when performing experiments on motors and electrical circuits. Not detailed above are the water pump systems which I also worked with. Starting off with the motors, when a current is applied to any system, due to intrinsic error present in the production of the mechanisms or due to external factors, the expected behavior of these systems is not always the theoretical or ideal one we are supposed to see. In order to counteract these, what we can do is utilize control systems. An example of a control system would be a PID (proportion integral derivative) controller. In my experiments, I analyzed how the motors would react and how the control systems reacts when different voltages were supplied to the operation of the motors. In addition, I test approximately 20 different motors to compare the results between them. Moving onto the electrical circuits, the same idea was applied to the circuits as the motors where different voltages were supplied and I analyzed how different circuits reacted and then calibrated them so that each circuit behaved similarly when a set voltage was applied. For both the motors and electrical circuits, I performed step-test response experiments. Finally, the water pump system I used was one where the water from a top tank flowed into another tank beneath the top tank. When the sizes of the holes which allowed water to flow between the tanks was adjusted, the equilibrium of the water was changed as well. To visualize this, when the output of water is restricted to one hole, it would take more force to push this water out at the same speed as compared to if the hole were bigger in size. This causes more water to fill up in the tank if the hole is smaller due to the fact that the increased pressure will make up for the smaller output hole of the water. In these experiments, not only did I apply different voltages to the pump but I also analyzed how the sizes of the holes affected the equilibrium point of the water in each tank which helped calibrate the tanks later on.
Before my experience working in a laboratory setting, I often found it hard to visualize how theoretical concepts taught in classes could be applied to real-world applications. After being given the opportunity to use the knowledge I have gained and see it be put in action through my experiments, I was inspired to only only continue searching for opportunities that would allow me to explore the application of theoretical concepts but also inspired me to dig deeper and understand how these systems work. This opportunity provided me with a major shift in perspective on how I now view the world of academia and applications. Being inspired by this, the following school year I went on to participate in my local science fair where I was awarded first place as well as other major stage awards. In addition, the experience I gained from seeing theory being put into practice led me to participate in my school's robotics team where we won the provincial championships and was invited to the world championships the following month. Seeing how impactful research has been in my life, I am continuing to work at my local university this summer, performing experiences on fluid dynamics and the classification of how certain objects react to the flow of air.
