Development of Linear Motion Experiment

Using Open Source Python And Rotary Motion Sensor

Sazliman Ismail, Rosly Jaafar and Shaharudin Ali

Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI)
 Introduction

●Both theory and experiment are important in teaching and learning

science process

●To make science education strong in both theory and experiment it

demands good laboratory facilities

●The roles of experiment has become more significant due to the

dominance of technology in our lives.

●Microcomputer Based Laboratory(MBL) was the most frequently used

tools to integrate science, mathematics, and technology in schools

●However, that MBL hardware and software in the market is very

expensive for school, matriculation,college and university laboratories in
Malaysia.
 About this system:

●Microcomputer-Based Laboratory (MBL) system for linear motion

experiment was developed based on the PHOENIX Development
System from Inter-University Accelerator Centre (IUAC), New Delhi

●Software package for this system was developed by using the Python
Programming Language (Open Source Software).

●This package is cheap enough for the college level or even school
laboratories to own and enabling them to do experiments and perform
numerical analysis of the data using computers
The Objectives of this study was:

●To develop the MBL system of linear motion experiment using Open
Source Python and Rotary Motion Sensor

To test and evaluate the developed system

●
Research Questions:

How to develop the MBL system of linear motion experiment using

●

Open Source Python and Rotary Motion Sensor?

How to test and evaluate the developed system?

●
 Significance of the study:

●To provide a computer based measurement system of linear motion that

can be used in teaching and learning process

●MBL is not widely used in all stages of education in Malaysia so this low
cost package can be used as laboratory exercise for teaching and
learning process.

●To share the ideas with other educators how to develop a low cost MBL
system using Open Source Python
Literature Review:

Laboratories are wonderful venues for teaching and learning science.

They offer students opportunities to think about, discuss, and solve real
problems (Ricardo, 2003).

It has been suggested that engaging learners in science laboratory

activities or practical work promote students’ understanding of scientific
concepts, problem solving abilities and attitudes towards science
(Arzi,2003 : Ozkan,Carikoglu&Tekkaya,2006).
Literature Review:

The experiment underlies a valuable and powerful method to develop and

evaluate teaching and learning sequences. The students approach
knowledge by setting the experiment components, performing the
experiment and observing the reliable results (Tsavli, Fragakis, Kopsidas,
Zisiadis, & Vavougios, 2009).

Thornton (1987) claims that to make laboratories engaging and effective

for developing useful scientific intuition, students need powerful, easy to
use, scientific tools with which to collect physical data and to display
them in a manner that can be manipulated, thought about, and
remembered.
Literature Review:

The computer in a microcomputer-based laboratory can capture and

display data from the real world quickly and accurately. This helps
students make the link between concrete elements in the real world and
the abstract representations of physics
(Ricardo, 2003).

Researchers claim that MBL activities are effective in improving

students’ understanding of graphs of physical events (Mokros,1986;
Thornton 1987), in producing better learning of concepts than traditional
methods and in helping them to get a proper view of scientific
experimentation (Redish, 1997)
The Hardware and Software Implementation

To design a new experiment: One need to know

●How to connect a sensor to Phoenix?

●How to access it through software?
 The Hardware
Hardware Features:
4 Analog Inputs (10 bit resolution)
1 Analog Output ( 8 bit)
4 Digital Inputs
4 Digital Outputs
Frequency Counter
Square wave generator
Constant Current Source (1 mA)
2 Inverting Amplifiers (gain set plugin resistors)
1 Non-inverting Amplifier
2 Level Shifting Amplifiers
RS232 / USB interface
ATmega16 micro-controller
Phoenix Interface

P/N 1116 Rotary Motion Sensor

10 Turn

Rotary Motion Sensor

The Software

User Programs

Runs on PC
Python Library

Communication Link

Runs on Micro-controller
Phoenix Firmware

Analog/Digital I/O

Sensor/Controls
Development of System :

C a l oi b n r ao t f i r o t a r y m o t io n s e n s o

D e v e lo p m e n t o f s o f t w a r e

D e v e lo p m e n t o f e x p e r im e n
 Calibration of Rotary Motion Sensor

important because the output of sensor is in voltage form

●

to get the value of equation coefficient

●
 Calibration of Rotary Motion Sensor

The equation obtained from the calibration is y = 12.4x +0.182.

Where y is the angle(in radian) variable and x is the voltage
variable. The value 12.4 is the slope (m) of the equation and
the value 0.182 is the intercept-y (c).
 Python programming
f r o m T k i mi n pt e o r r t *
im p o r t p h m , d r a w , t im e , s y s , h e l p m e
f r o m t k M e s s a g e B o x im p o r t a s k o k c a n c e l
im p o r t t k M e s s a g e B o x a s M B
im p o r t w i n 3 2 u i
im p o r t w i n 3 2 p r i n t
im p o r t w i n 3 2 c o n
im p o r t I m a g e , I m a g e T k , I m a g# e p D i c r at u w r e
W I D T H = 8 0 0 # w i d t h o f d r a w in g c a n v a s
H E I G H T = 3 0 0 # h e i g h t
d a t a h i s t ]o r y = [ # s t o r e d a t a
d a t a ] =, [] [ ] [
d i s p o b j e ]c t s = [ # O b j e c t s o f c la s s d is p l a y
r u n n i n g = F a l s e
s t a r t s = [ 0 , 0 ] # s t a r t i n g t im e s n fe o l sr t w o c h a n
m a x r a d = 2 0 . 0
t im e g a p = 5 0 # m in im u m m s e c s b e t w e e n r e a d s
m a x t im e = 2 # T o t a l d u r a t i o n o f t h e r u n i n s e c o n d s

d e f u p d a t e ( ) : # C a ll e d p e r io d ic a l l y b y t h e T k t o o l k i t
g l o b a l d a t a , r u n n i n g , t im e g a p , p h
# s = t im e . t im e ( )
i f r u nn gn i = = F a l s e :
r e t u r n
f o r c h in r a n g e ( 1 ) :
p h . s e l e c t _ a d c ( 0 )
r e s = p h . g e t _ v o lt a g e ( )
x = r e - ss [ t 0a ] r t s [ 0 ]
v = r e s [ 1 ]
d = v 2 d ( v ) # c o n v e r t v o l t a g e t o a n g l e
d i s = d * 0 . 0 1 9 9
d a t a [ 0 ] . a p p e n d ( ( x , d is ) )
i f l e n ( d a t a [ 0 ] ) > 1 :
d i s p o b j e c t s _ [ 0l i n] . ed se ( l )e t e
d i s p o b j e c t s [ 0 ] . li n e ( d a t a [ 0 ] , 'b l a c k ')
v e l = ( d - a1 t] a[ 1- [ d0] a] [ t a - 2[ 0 ] [] 1[ ] ) / ( d- 1 a ] t[ a0- d ][ 0a ] t [ a - 2[ 0 ] [] 0[ ] )
d a t a [ 1 ] . a p p e n- 1 d ] [ ( 0( d] , a v t ae [l )0 ) ] [
p r i n t v e l
i f l e n ( d a t a [ 1 ] ) > 1 :
d i s p o b j e c t s [ 1 ] . d e l e t e _ li n e s ( )
d i s p o b j e. l ic n t es [( 1d ] a t a [ 1 ] , ' b l u e ' )

i f x > m a x t im e :
p r i n t 'd o n e '
e l s e :
r o o t . a f t e r ( t im e g a p , u p d a t e )
d e f v 2 d ( v ) : # C a l i b r a Rt i o o n t a f r o y r MS oe tn i os no r

m = 1 2 . 4
c = 0 . 1 8 2
v = v * 0 . 0 0 1 # m V t o V o lt s
d = m * v + c
r e t u r n d
 Development of Software

● software design was developed based on ADDIE Model

A n a ly s is

D e s ig n

E v a lu a t io n

D e v e lo p m e n t

Im p l e t ma t ei on n
 Software flow chart

Start

Main Menu(Graph)
Displacement-time
Velocity-time

Start Stop Save Clear Help Print

Quit
No
Yes

End
Graphical User Interface of MBL
 Development of Experiment Set

There are two types of experiment set developed.

●To determine the coefficient of friction of the moving block on

different angle of plane

●To determine the coefficient of friction of different mass of the moving

block on same angle of the plane
 Theory:

a T T
m 2 a
m 1


m 1 g c oθ s
m 2 g
m 1g

 m 1 g s iθn

F o r1 b m l o c k : N o w s e t t i n g bF k =o µ tk mh 1 g T c θ' s o es q u a l a n d
F o mr2 b l o c k :
∑ Fx = 0 ∑ Fy = 0
m g - m a F= k + mg s i θ n + am w h e r e
N =1 g m c θ o s 2 2 1 1

∑ F y = 2 ma
∑ Fx = m 1a
m g – T =2 a m µk m 1g c θ o= s 2 mg - m 2 a - m 1 g s iθn - m 1 a
2
T – ( Fk + m 1g sθ )i =n 1 am
T = 2 g - mm 2 a [ 1 ]
T F= k + ( 1 gm s i θ n ) + 1 a m [ 2 ]
( m - m s i nθ ) g- ( m 2 + m 1 ) a
H e n µ kc = e 2 , 1
m 1 g c oθ s
 Experiment Set Up

M ic r o c o n t r o lle r

C o mt e p r u

R o t a r y m o t io n s e n s o r a t t a c h e d
o n p u lle y

T a b le
 RESULTS

T
a b le 1 T a b l e 2
V a l u e o f t h e tc h o e e f d f i ec iv e e n l t o o p f e f d r i c m t Vi o e a n a l us u ue s ri one fg m t h e e n t c P so aoy e ss f Dfct i e c a mi et a n t S o t fu
a t d i f f e r e n c e s a n g l e o f r u n a a t w d a i f yf e r e n c e s a n g l e
m 1 = 0 . 0 8 k 0 g 2 m a 2 4 = n 0 .30d 8 k3 g 5 5 1 m 1 = 0 . 0 8 k 0 ag 2 n m 24d = 0 3. 0 8 k 3 g 5 5 1

angle, acceleration, a Friction angle, acceleration, a Friction

/ms coefficient, /ms coefficient

5 17.49 - 2.901
5 17.60 - 2.925
10 15.56 - 2.605 10 14.60 - 2.402
15 13.99 - 2.398 15 13.40 - 2.271

20 9.61 - 1.577 20 9.52 - 1.558

25 8.13 - 1.379 25 7.83 - 1.311

 RESULTS

T a b le 3 T a b l e 4
T h e v a l uc eo e o f f i ct h i e e n µt k o f fd r i fc f te i or eon ntf h t me m o a v bs i lns o g c k T h e v a l uc eo e o f f i ct h i e e n µt k o f fd r i fc f te i or eon ntf h t me m o a v bs i lns o g c k
o n s a m e a n g u l es i nto h gf e t h d e e vp el a l on pe e d mm e a s u r e m e no t n s sy as mt e e a n g u l es i nPo gf a t s h c e o p D l a a n t ae S t u d i
θ = 5 ° m 2 = 0 .0 8 3 5 5 1
, k g θ = 5 ° , m 2 = 0 . 0 8 3 k g5 5 1

mass, /kg acceleration, a Friction mass, /kg acceleration, a Friction

/ms coefficient, /ms coefficient,

0.080243 17.46 - 2.901 0.080243 17.60 - 2.925

0.089060 14.52 - 2.316 0.089060 14.20 - 2.073

0.099118 9.61 - 1.078 0.099118 11.50 - 1.434

0.109484 6.87 - 0.514 0.109484 8.65 - 0.835

0.119119 3.56 0.099 0.119119 4.84 -0.125

 DISSCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

●This study has shown that the data presented from developed
system are satisfied with the data from standard system

●The advantage of this system was the real time graph plotted
on computer screen,user can also save the data and print out
the graph

●This low cost package can be used as laboratory exercise

and demonstration kit for teaching and learning process