The Quanser Coupled Tanks is a nonlinear, reconfigurable system for liquid level/process control experiments. The system consists of two tanks and a pump. Each tank is instrumented with a pressure sensor to measure the liquid level.

One of the great features of the Coupled Tanks experiment are the different configurations in which it can be set up, and therefore, a variety of experiments that you can perform:

State-coupled SISO system

In this configuration, the pump feeds into the Tank 1, which in turn feeds into the Tank 2. The controller needs to regulate or track the liquid level in the Tank 2 through the voltage applied to the pump.

Single Input Single Output (SISO) system

In this setup, the pump feeds directly into the Tank 1, where the liquid level is measured using the pressure sensors. Tank 2 is not used. The objective is to regulate or track the liquid level in the Tank 1.

State-coupled and Input-coupled SISO system

The ‘disturbance tap’ adds even more flavor to the experiments. It can be used to study the robustness of different control algorithms. You can also change the inlet and outlet orifice diameters to change the flow rate into and out of the tanks, effectively modifying the dynamics of the system.

Here, the pump feeds into the Tank 1 and Tank 2 using a split flow. Tank 1 also feeds into the Tank 2. The objective is for the controller to regulate or track the liquid level in the Tank 2 by using the pump.