Control and design of a single degree-of-freedom magnetic levitation demonstration

• Main Author: Baranowski, Robert (Robert J.)
• Other Authors: David L. Trumper.
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2007
• Subjects: Mechanical Engineering.
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/36296

Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2006. === Includes bibliographical references (p. 33). === Controlling and stabilizing magnetic suspension systems is a difficult design task because several non-linearities and noise in both magnet physics and sensor performance can cause instability. This thesis investigates methods of building and controlling a stable, single degree-of-freedom magnetic suspension system that will be robust to changes in ambient conditions. Synchronous detection is a technique that is successfully implemented in this hardware to create an optical position sensor that rejects a wide range of environmental light disturbances. Inspiration from two magnetic levitation demonstration setups at MIT yields a new operating, stable levitator with improved robustness. === by Robert Baranowski. === S.B.