Shake Table II Manual
Shake Table II Manual
Shake Table II Manual
Shake Table II
User Manual
Shake Table II User Manual
http://www.quanser.com Web
Printed in Canada.
Table of Contents
1. INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................................... 1
2. PREREQUISITES......................................................................................................................................... 2
3. SYSTEM DESCRIPTION................................................................................................................................3
3.1. Component Nomenclature................................................................................................................ 3
3.2. Component Description.................................................................................................................... 5
3.2.1. Stage (Component #1)............................................................................................................................ 5
3.2.2. Bottom Plate (Component #2)................................................................................................................ 5
3.2.3. Brushless DC Motor (Component #3).................................................................................................... 5
3.2.4. Lead Screw (Component #4).................................................................................................................. 6
3.2.5. Encoder.................................................................................................................................................. 6
3.2.6. Linear Bearing Block (Component #8).................................................................................................. 6
3.2.7. Limit Switches (Components #10, 11, and 12)...................................................................................... 6
3.2.8. Accelerometer (Component #15)........................................................................................................... 6
3.3. Specifications....................................................................................................................................6
4. SYSTEM SETUP..........................................................................................................................................8
4.1. Software Requirements.....................................................................................................................8
4.1.1. Basic Configuration............................................................................................................................... 8
4.1.2. Advanced Configuration........................................................................................................................ 9
5.3. ST II Test........................................................................................................................................ 28
7. REFERENCES........................................................................................................................................... 79
Illustration Index
Figure 1: Shake Table II system................................................................................................................. 1
Figure 2: Overview of major system components......................................................................................2
Figure 3: Top view of Shake Table II components.................................................................................... 4
Figure 4: Front view of Shake Table II components..................................................................................4
Figure 5: "Motor" cable............................................................................................................................10
Figure 6: "To Device" cable..................................................................................................................... 10
Figure 7: "From MultiQ" cable................................................................................................................ 10
Figure 8: "Emergency Stop" cable........................................................................................................... 10
Figure 9: "From Analog Sensors" cable...................................................................................................11
Figure 10: Connections on the Q8 Extended Terminal Board................................................................. 13
Figure 11: Connections on UPM-180-25B.............................................................................................. 13
Figure 12: Connections of the Shake Table II device.............................................................................. 14
Figure 13: Shake Table II with the Quanser AMD-1 system................................................................... 16
Figure 14: Shake Table II with the AMD-2 system................................................................................. 16
Figure 15: Shake Table II with the Quanser 2xAMD-1 system............................................................... 16
Figure 16: Message prompted after running UPM boot WCP.................................................................18
Figure 17: Messaged prompted after running calibration WCP...............................................................19
Figure 18: Front panel of sine wave WCP............................................................................................... 20
Figure 19: The x (m) scope when running the q_sine_q8 controller....................................................... 21
Figure 20: Control panel for sine sweep project...................................................................................... 22
Figure 21: The a_tbl (g) scope after running the q_sweep_q8 controller................................................ 23
Figure 22: Acceleration measurements plotted in a_tbl (g) scope after running Northridge earthquake....
24
Figure 23: Open plot button in the WinCon Server window................................................................... 26
Figure 24: Selecting scopes to be opened................................................................................................ 27
Figure 25: Changing scope time buffer window...................................................................................... 27
Figure 26: GUI for browsing through ST II WinCon controllers.............................................................28
Figure 27: Building a WinCon Project from a Simulink Diagram.......................................................... 29
Figure 28: Simulink model used to track sine wave................................................................................ 31
Figure 29: Shake Table II WinCon library...............................................................................................34
Figure 30: Shake Table II - Q8 subsystem............................................................................................... 35
Figure 31: Software watchdog: stops WinCon when encoder reads over P_MAX variable................... 36
Figure 32: Accelerometer subsystem in WinCon Shake Table II Library............................................... 37
Figure 33: Subsystem used to remove initial bias and filter accelerometer signal.................................. 37
Figure 34: Limit switches subsystem in WinCon ST II Library.............................................................. 38
Figure 35: Demonstrating the digital debounce switch............................................................................39
Figure 36: Limit Switches wo/ Safety subsystem in WinCon ST II library............................................. 40
Figure 37: Proportional-derivative controller subsystem in ST II WinCon Library................................ 41
Figure 38: Block diagram of the control system used to position of ST II stage..................................... 42
Figure 39: Calculate acceleration from position measurement subsystem in ST II WinCon Library......43
Figure 40: Positions scopes subsystem in WinCon ST II Library............................................................44
Index of Tables
Table 1: Component nomenclature............................................................................................................ 3
Table 2: Dimensions of the top stage......................................................................................................... 5
Table 3: Dimensions of the bottom plate................................................................................................... 5
Table 4: Shake Table II specifications....................................................................................................... 7
Table 5: Cable nomenclature................................................................................................................... 11
Table 6: Ribbon cable connections between Quanser Q4/Q8 HIL board and Q8 Extended Terminal
Board........................................................................................................................................................ 12
Table 7: Shake Table II wiring summary................................................................................................. 15
Table 8: Description of main folder on the Shake Table II CD............................................................... 15
Table 9: Files supplied in the "wcp" folder of the Shake Table II CD.....................................................17
Table 10: Description of the predefined scopes in the ST II WinCon Projects....................................... 25
Table 11: Summary of file types.............................................................................................................. 30
Table 12: List of files provided in the "mdl" folder on the Shake Table II CD....................................... 33
Table 13: Sample controls gains calculated for a varying load mass.......................................................50
Table 14: Equations used to find the maximum setpoint amplitude........................................................53
Table 15: Signals in the Table X connection........................................................................................... 81
Table 16: Signals in Table Y connection................................................................................................. 82
1. Introduction
The Quanser Shake Table II shown in Figure 1 is an instructional shake table device that was originally
developed for the University Consortium on Instructional Shake Tables (UCIST). It can be used to
teach structural dynamics, vibration isolation, feedback control, and various other topics for
mechanical, aerospace, and civil engineers.
The top stage of the shake table is driven by a powerful motor that allow it to achieve an acceleration of
2.5 g when up to 7.5 kg of mass is mounted. The stage rides on two ground-hardened metal shafts using
linear bearings which allows for smooth linear motions with low path deflection. When starting from
center the stage is capable of moving 7.62 cm, or 3-inches, on each side. It therefore has a total travel of
15.24 cm. In order to move the top platform at a high acceleration, a robust ball-screw and motor
assembly is used. The high-powered 400 Watt motor is a 3-phase brushless DC actuator. The motor
contains an embedded high-resolution encoder that allows the position of the stage of be measured with
an effective linear resolution is 3.10 m. An analog accelerometer is mounted on the Shake Table II
platform in order to measure the acceleration of the stage directly.
The main devices used to run the shake table is depicted in Figure 2. The entire is comprised of a
Universal Power Module (UPM), a data-acquisition (DAC) card, a PC running the WinCon control
software, and the Shake Table II itself. Consider for example the signal transitions between the system
components when the user wishes the Shake Table II stage to track a sine wave and read the resulting
acceleration. Using WinCon on the PC, the user specifies the amplitude and frequency of the sine wave.
The sine wave is the user-specified desired or command position of the stage. The current needed to
move the stage at the desired sine wave position is calculated in WinCon and sent through the analog
output channel of the data-acquisition board to the UPM device. The power amplifier in the UPM
amplifies the current and drives the motor. The table moves back and forth at the position and
frequency of the commanded sine wave. The resulting displacement and acceleration of the stage are
measured by the on-board encoder sensor and the accelerometer sensor. The encoder and accelerometer
are connected to the DAC board and their signals can be displayed and processed further in WinCon.
Plotted data can be also be saved for later analysis.
Section 3 describes the various devices composing the Shake Table II system and gives some
specifications. The wiring procedure for a typical setup is explained in Section 4. In Section 5, the
procedures to run the basic experiments on the shake table are described. It explains, for instance, how
how to make the top stage of the shake table track a sine wave. Section 6 goes into more detail and
explains how to design custom shake table controllers. For example, the user may wish to have the
shake table track a sawtooth wave instead of a sine wave. This is not already supplied and would have
to be created. In addition, Section 6 discusses how to download recorded earthquake data from the
Internet and replay them on the shake table.
2. Prerequisites
To successfully run a Shake Table II controller, the prerequisites are:
i. To be familiar with your Shake Table II main components (e.g. actuator, sensors), your data
acquisition card (e.g. Q8), and your power amplifier (e.g. UPM), as described in this manual,
References [1], and [2], respectively.
ii. To be familiar with WinCon enough to open a WinCon Project and run it to control the position
of the shake table device. This is explained in this manual.
iii. For the advanced configuration (to be explained later), users need to be familiar in using
WinCon to control and monitor the plant in real-time and in designing their controller through
Simulink. Reference [3] provides full details of the WinCon software.
3. System Description
The main components that compose the Shake Table II device are identified in Section 3.1 and those
components are described in Section 3.2. See Section 3.3 for a listing of the Shake Table II
specifications.
ID # Description ID # Description
1 Stage 9 Sensor Circuit Board
2 Base Plate 10 Left Limit Sensor
3 Brushless DC Motor 11 Home Position Sensor
4 Lead screw 12 Right Limit Sensor
5 Ball nut 13 Motor Leads Connector
Motor Encoder & Hall Sensors
6 Manual adjustment. 14
Connector
7 Hardened Steel Guide Rail 15 Accelerometer
8 Linear bearing block 16 Accelerometer Connector
Table 1: Component nomenclature.
3.2.5. Encoder
The encoder is embedded inside the DC motor and is used to measure the linear position of the stage. It
cannot be identified externally. The motor encoder has a resolution of 2048 lines per revolution. In
quadrature mode this gives 8192 counts per full rotation motor shaft rotation. The effective resolution,
i.e. minimum linear position that can be detected, of the stage displacement is 3.10 m.
3.3. Specifications
The main specifications of the Shake Table II are given in Table 4. See Reference [2] for UPM-180-
25B specifications and Reference [4] for a complete listing of the DC motor characteristics.
4. System Setup
To setup this experiment, the following hardware and software are required:
Power Amplifier: Quanser UPM 180-25B, as detailed in Reference [2].
Data Acquisition Board: Quanser Q4 or Q8 board. See Reference [1] for details.
Shake Table II Plant: Quanser Shake Table II, as shown in Figure 1 above.
Real-Time Control Software: WinCon-RTX configuration detailed in Reference [3].
See Reference [10] for details on the compatible Windows and RTX versions needed to run WinCon.
See Reference [10] for details on the compatible Windows, RTX, Matlab/Simulink, and Visual Studio
.NET versions needed to run WinCon.
The different cables used to connect the various components of the shake table system is described in
Section 4.2.1. Section 4.2.2 explains how to connect the Quanser Q8 Extended Terminal Board to
either the Quanser Q4 or Q8 data acquisition card. In Section 4.2.3, the typical connections between the
Q4 or Q8 board, the UPM-180-25B device, and the Shake Table II are described.
Cable Description
The "Motor" cable corresponds to the 3-phase motor power
leads. This cable is designed to connect from the Quanser's
Universal Power Module model 180-25B (i.e. the output of the
power module after signal amplification) to the brushless DC
motor of the shake table.
The "To Device" cable is a DB15 cable that connects the shake
table circuit board to the UPM. It carries to the UPM the three
limit sensors' signals and the motor encoder signals. It also
supplies the DC power required by the different sensors.
Cable Description
The "From Analog Sensors" cable is a 6-pin-mini-DIN-to-6-
pin-mini-DIN cable that can be used to connect any potential
plant sensor to the UPM such as accelerometers. It can provide
a 12VDC bias to analog sensors and carry their voltage signals
to the DAC terminal board via the UPM.
Figure 9: "From Analog Sensors" cable.
If not already done so, see Reference [1] for instructions on how to install the Q4 or Q8 hardware-in-
the-loop board in your PC. Then, follow these instructions to connect the Q4 or Q8 hardware-in-the-
loop board to the Q8 Extended Terminal Board:
1. Ensure that the PC is powered off and that you are grounded.
2. Connect the ribbon cable labeled J3 into the Cable 3 connector on the Extended Terminal
Board. Cable 3 is the shortest cable. In a tower PC, it will be the topmost cable where it comes
out of the PC.
CAUTION: The red line on the ribbon cable should be closest to the "Table X" and
"Table Y" parallel input connectors on the terminal board. The connectors have a tab
such that they only go in one way.
3. Table 6 summarizes the connections between the Q4 and Q8 HIL board and the Q8 Extended
Terminal Board. If using a Q8 control board, connect the J2 ribbon cable from the Q8 into the
Cable 2 connector on the Q8 Extended Terminal Board. Cable 2 is the second shortest cable. In
a tower unit, it is the middle cable where the ribbon cables exit the PC. If using a Q4 control
board, there is no J2 cable and the Cable 2 connector on the terminal board is left unused.
4. Connect the J1 ribbon cable to the Cable 1 connector on the Q8 Extended Terminal Board. This
is the longest ribbon cable.
5. With the terminal board sitting on top of the tower unit, the ribbon cables should not be twisted
and should all lie neatly on top of one another. The cables are slightly offset from one another
on the terminal board to match the offset of the connectors on the data acquisition card. The text
on the terminal board should face the front of the computer.
6. Use the ribbon cable clamp provided to secure the ribbon cables together. The clamp comes
with a peel-and-stick base so that you can mount the clamp to a clean surface, such as the top of
your PC. Put the cables in the clamp before mounting it. If you do not wish to mount the clamp,
then do not remove the peel-and-stick paper. Use of the clamp is unnecessary, but helps to keep
your Q8 data acquisition system neat and tidy.
As mentioned in the procedure, in the Q4 DAQ board setup there is no J2 ribbon cable. As a result, the
Cable 2 connector on Q8 Extended Terminal Board is not used.
See Reference [1] for instruction on how to install the necessary drivers for the Q4 or Q8 board. Once
the Q4/Q8 has been properly tested, you can proceed to Section 4.2.3 and wire the ST II system.
brushless motor.
5. Connect cable #5 from the analog connector on the accelerometer mounted on the shake table ,
see Figure 12, to the S1 connector on the front panel of the UPM-180-25B. Ensure the UPM
is not powered when making this connection. It carries the acceleration measured by the
accelerometer.
6. Go through the ST II test procedure in Section 5.3.
Figure 10: Connections on the Q8 Extended Terminal Board. Figure 11: Connections on UPM-180-25B.
3 "Emergency E-Stop Switch UPM E-Stop Carries the emergency stop signal.
Stop" Cable Connector
4 4-pin Motor "Motor" Motor connector Connects the shake table motor leads
Cable Connector on the on the Shake to the amplifier on the UPM.
5 Analog Cable: "S1" Connector Accelerometer Carries the acceleration signal of the
6-pin-mini- on the on the on the Shake stage to the UPM.
DIN to 6-pin- UPM-180-25B Table II
mini-DIN
Table 7: Shake Table II wiring summary.
Figure 13: Shake Table II with the Figure 14: Shake Table II with the Figure 15: Shake Table II with the
Quanser AMD-1 system. Quanser AMD-2 system. Quanser 2xAMD-1 system.
The STII folder on the Shake Table II CD has the following directory structure:
\STII
......... \Manual
........................... \UPM Manual
........................... \Specifications
......... \Lab Files
........................... \q4
......... ........................... \wcp
......... ........................... \mdl
........................... \q8
......... ........................... \wcp
......... ........................... \mdl
The Manual folder contains documentation such as this Shake Table II User Manual, the Universal
Power Module User Manual, and the motor specification sheet. The Lab Files directory includes
previously compiled WinCon controllers that were built for the Q4 and Q8 boards, in the wcp folder, as
well as the source Simulink models that were used to create those WinCon controllers, in the mdl
folder. The wcp name stands for WinCon Project and the mdl folder name denotes Simulink Model.
Choose the lab files depending on the whether the Quanser Q4 or Q8 HIL board is connected to the ST
II.
2. Connect the Emergency Stop cable to the connector on the side panel of the UPM.
3. Rotate the knob in the counter-clockwise direction until it is released in the upright position.
The amplifier cannot drive the motor when the red knob is pushed in.
4. After power up, the Left and Right LEDs on the UPM front panel should be blinking. If the
lights are NOT flashing consult Reference [2].
5. Load the WinCon Server software (typically placed under Quanser | WinCon in the Windows
START menu).
6. Open the q_boot_upm_zz.wcp WinCon project that is supplied. The zz suffix denotes the type of
data-acquisition card being used. For example, if zz is q4 then the file is meant to be used with
the Quanser Q4 control board. Alternatively, if zz is q8 then the file is to be used with the
Quanser Q8 data-acquisition system.
7. Run the initialization controller by clicking on the green START button in the WinCon Server
window.
8. The Left and Right LEDs should stop flashing and the window shown in Figure 16 should be
prompted. If the LEDs are no longer blinking, then the UPM amplifier is ready to be used for
the various ST II experiments.
stage reverses its direction and begins moving towards the mid-stroke position. The stage stops
moving when the Home limit switch is triggered (the Home LED on the UPM will go ON).
When complete, the message shown in Figure 17 is displayed.
6. Alternatively, the knurled knob at the end of the table can be used to manually return the table to
its home position. The Home LED on the UPM will be lit when this position is reached.
7. If the table is not moving consult the troubleshooting guide at the end of this manual.
When the UPM is placed in the calibration mode, i.e. the Cal, OK, and Enable LEDs are lit, the
amplifier remains enabled when the Left or Right proximity sensor are triggered but is disabled when
the Home limit sensor is activated. Normally and for all the other experiments, the amplifier is disabled
when the Left or Right sensor is triggered.
CAUTION: If the stage remains motionless when running the q_cal_zz controller (when not at
home position) try running the q_boot_upm project again. Thus stop the q_cal_zz controller, go
through the procedure in Section 5.2.1, and then run q_cal_zz again as explained above.
5. Click on the green START button in the WinCon Server window. The x (m) scope should begin
plotting data and the START button in the WinCon Server window should now be a red STOP
button. Since the amplitude in the control panel is set to 0, the table is not commanded any
position and therefore should not be moving.
ATTENTION: PRESS DOWN on the RED BUTTON of the E-Stop switch in case of
emergency. If something goes wrong during an experiment, pressing the red button of the E-
Stop switch disables the amplifier and shuts off the DC motor power.
6. The Enable and OK LEDs on the UPM should be lit. Consult the troubleshooting guide if this
is not the case.
7. Move the vertical slider in the Control Panel to 0.02 meters. The stage should begin tracking a
sine wave of 20 cm at a frequency of 0.5 Hz. The x (m) scope displays the desired or
commanded position set by the user and the resulting measured position. Figure 19 illustrates
the results when the sine wave frequency is changed from 0.5 Hz to 1.0 Hz at around the 2
second mark. As shown, both the desired and measured responses are almost identical
(however, there is always a small discrepancy due to the sampling delay).
Figure 19: The x (m) scope when running the q_sine_q8 controller.
8. When finished set the Amplitude (m) control knob to 0 m, in order to bring the stage back to
Home position.
9. Click on the red STOP button in the WinCon Server window to stop running the sine wave
controller.
10. Shut off the UPM-180-25B power.
q_sweep_zz.wcp. The project contains the control panel shown in Figure 20 and the scope a_tbl
(g) pictured in Figure 21 with data. With the vertical slider in the control panel, the user can
change the amplitude of the sine sweep signal between 0 and 3 cm. The a_tbl (g) scope displays
the acceleration measured by the table accelerometer in gravitational units, g.
5. Click on the green START button in the WinCon Server window to start the controller.
ATTENTION: PRESS DOWN on the RED BUTTON of the E-Stop switch in case of
emergency. If something goes wrong during an experiment, pressing the red button of the E-
Stop switch disables the amplifier and shuts off the DC motor power.
At first, the stage moves back and forth slowly as it tracks the sine wave and the a_tbl (g) scope
begins plotting acceleration data. The stage will begin oscillating faster and faster as the
frequency of the position command increases over time. The sine sweep lasts 30 seconds and is
automatically restarted once the duration is reached. See Figure 21 for a typical acceleration
measurement after running the sine sweep on the shake table.
Figure 21: The a_tbl (g) scope after running the q_sweep_q8 controller.
6. Click on the red STOP button in the WinCon Server window to stop running the sine sweep
controller.
7. Shut off the UPM-180-25B power.
Figure 22: Acceleration measurements plotted in a_tbl (g) scope after running
Northridge earthquake.
6. WinCon stops automatically when the earthquake duration has been reached.
7. Shut off the UPM-180-25B power
As described in Table 10, the x (m), x (in), a_tbl (g), and a_tbl (m/s2) scopes display two variables of
data. Most of the time, the desired and measured positions in the x scopes closely match one another
and, as a result, the green (desired) and red (measured) plot traces will be almost directly on top of each
other.
The desired acceleration is only used in controllers with a previously defined trajectory, such as the
q_kobe_zz or q_northridge_zz controllers. When running those experiments, the green desired
acceleration trace and the red measured acceleration traces in the a_tbl (g), and a_tbl (m/s2) scopes will
closely match. However, when running the q_sine_zz or q_sweep_zz controllers the green desired
acceleration scope is set to 0 because there is no desired acceleration defined (only the red measured
signal will be shown).
3. Select the variables to view. For example as illustrated in Figure 24, to view the velocity and
acceleration of the stage place a check mark on the v (m) and a_tbl (g) items.
2. Enter a new time buffer. For example, if 10 seconds is entered instead of 5 then the scope will
display 10 seconds of data instead of 5 seconds.
3. Click on the OK button to apply the changes.
5.3. ST II Test
This section goes through a procedure to test the Shake Table II hardware after it has been setup as
dictated in Section 4. This method should be undergone before performing any of the standards
experiments