Elevator control system project

As part of the requirements in a junior-level measurements & instrumentation course (for an Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology program), students are required to design and implement an elevator control system project. The elevator simulator is pre-built and equipped with a car that travels through three floors, a car hoist system that uses a 12-volt DC motor, floor sensors to detect the position of the car, and an elevator call pushbutton on each floor. Terminal strips are provided for I/O connections. Students are required to use a National Instruments data acquisition system with analog I/O and digital I/O capability. The objective of the project is for students to design the software (using LabVIEW) and hardware interfacing electronics for the simulated elevator control system such that it mimics the operation of a typical elevator. This paper provides a detailed listing of the engineering requirements for the system and the functional test procedure for verifying proper operation of the system. Examples of student work are provided, along with a project assessment. This project is also linked to several ABET criteria and can be used for assessment of the same. Recommendations are provided to help ensure student success on the project. This project has been found to effectively integrate both hardware and software design, while utilizing information covered from many prerequisite courses. Due to the slow response characteristics of this system, this PC-based control project lends itself well to this application.