Pneumatic systems are known for their nonlinear characteristics and susceptibility to disturbances from turbulences in airflow, which make them interesting for validating control strategies in academic studies. This work presents the development and control of a didactic system for vertically positioning a ball via an airflow, a device known as Air Levitation system. The main constructive aspects of the considered low-cost Air Levitation system are described in this paper. Furthermore, three fuzzy control strategies (PD-Fuzzy, Incremental PD-Fuzzy, and PD-Fuzzy+I) were implemented in this system for comparative purposes. The controllers were implemented through the Matlab/Simulink® software along with an Arduino UNO board. Finally, the experimental results of the fuzzy control strategies are presented, and their main differences are highlighted.

Published in International Journal of Advances in Engineering & Technology (IJAET), Volume 16 Issue 4, pp. 215-228, August 2023. Available online at: https://www.ijaet.org/media/7I76-IJAET1604809-v16-i4-pp215-228.pdf