Practical implementation of a PID - Model Reference Adaptive Controller (MRAC) for a 2-DOF Camera Gimbal

Using model reference adaptive control, we are looking for automatic setting of controller parameters such that the system response under different inertial conditions follows a single reference model. A camera stabilizer or gimbal consists of a movable stand for camera that enables a smooth picture capture. One of the inconveniencies of the commercial gimbals is that they are specific to carry their own cameras. If a new camera is installed on them, the gimbal cannot maintain its primary function properly. This problem occurs because of the different mass, inertia and centroid position of cameras. One of the important aspects in this particular application is the real-time implementation of control laws developed on software environments such as MATLAB on the real system. In this paper, a two-degrees of freedom gimbal has been designed and fabricated with paying attention to use hardwares ith fast response time. Then a PID- Model Reference Adaptive Control has been implemented on this hardware. Finally, the efficiency and robustness of this model reference adaptive controller was investigated both numerically and practically against various sources of disturbances .