Duck Car

With simply an IR sensor and motor, the “Duck Car” is a black box system that is intended to stay a specified distance away from the lead vehicle both when stationary and moving. I accomplished this by first modeling the system and then designing and implementing a PD compensator to achieve a fast and well damped system.

Using an oscilloscope, tachometer, and stroboscope, I was able to properly model the system to determine the time constant and tau of the motor, as well as the output voltage of the IR sensor.
Utilizing Matlab’s SISO Toolkit, I was able to visualize the transient response of the system and determine the response and settling time, as well as the damping ratio. Employing root locus analysis and frequency-domain methods through Matlab, I was able to design a PD compensator to eliminate any large oscillations within the system and result in a fast settling time.
Taking the Matlab compensator design, I created a true PD controller through the use of a potentiometer and capacitor. As a result, my system had a maximum overshoot of 17.4%, a 4.76-second settling time, and maintained a distance of 8.625 inches away from the lead vehicle.