Controlling Speed

Mechanically
Engr 315
Control Systems
Calvin College

8 December 2004

Brian Katerberg
Andy Vander Moren
 The Original Governor
James Watt’s
Flyball Governor

Used to prevent steam engines from overheating

while responding to the applied loads.
http://home.carolina.rr.com/microhydro/governors.html
Modern Governor

http://home.carolina.rr.com/microhydro/governors.html
 Electrical Speed Controls

 Tachometer
 Automotive Cruise Control
 Andy Wallner’s Presentation Yesterday
 Why Use an Electronic Governor?

 Allows for very precise governing

 Requires very limited amount of moving
parts
 Can fit in small areas
 Easy to adjust for changes in application
 Interfaces easily with other controlling
devices
 Why Use a Mechanical Governor?

 Could be less expensive

 Can use in wide range of conditions
 Marine Applications
 Extreme Temperatures
 Usually easier to troubleshoot
 More transparent
Mechanical Governor Shortcomings

 Have a delayed response time called

“droop”
 This delay in response time induces
something called “hunting”
 Can be thought of in terms of overshoot and
over/under damping
 Can tune a mechanical system to minimize
hunting using additional external mechanical
governors
Simple MatLAB Simulation
 Relation to Our Senior Design
Project
 We are building a winnowing machine for
use in Kenya
 Need some sort of governing device to
control the speed of our fan
 Device must be simple, easy to use, and
low cost
 Kenyan’s background should be taken into
account especially for repairs
 Not much electrical experience
 Bikes are major form of transportation
 Governors…in
There Can Be!
Bikes?

Di2 (Digitally Integrated Intelligence)

Automatic Derailleur
www.shimanocycling.com
 Maximum Air Speed
Seed Characteristics 2
4  diaseed  7
diaseed  .001m Volseed     mseed  8 10 kg
3  2 
2
 diaseed 
areaseed    
 2 

Force of Gravity
m
grav  9.81 fgrav  mseed  grav 6
2 fgrav  7.848 10 N
s

Force of Air Drag

kg
Cd  .5  air  1.25
3 fdrag  fgrav
m

Air Speed Calculations

fdrag
velair 
1 m
C    areaseed velair  5.655
2 d air s
 Stability Graph

0.8

0.6
Stable(  )

Unstable (  )
0.4

0.2

0
0 50 100 150

deg
 Questions?

A Governor
Mechanical
on a Bike
Governor