PID Balancing Beam 

Overview

This project is self-initiated control system experiment in which I designed and built a PID-controlled balancing beam system from scratch. The objective is the regulate he position of a rolling ball along a beam by dynamically adjusting the beam's tilt angle in real time. The system stabilizes the ball at a desired setpoint using closed-loop feedback control.

This project integrates mechanical design, electronics, and embeded software, serving as a exploration tool of PID control theory.

Mechanical Design

The mechanical structure consists of a tilting beam actuated by a servo motor. All components were modeled in Onshape and fabricated using 3D-printed PLA parts. the design prioritizes structural stiffness and low inertia to improve control responsiveness while mainting a compact.

Control System

The ball's position is measured in real time using an ultrasonic distance sensor mounted at the end of the beam. An Arduino Uno implements a PID controller that computes the control output based on position error and commands the servo to adjust the beam angle accordingly. The proportional, integral, derivative gains were manually tuned to balance responsiveness, stability, and steady-state accuracy.