Sway Damping Control of a Superconductor based Magnetic Levitation Module

A flux pinned interface of superconductors and permanent magnets enable a frictionless, stable connection. This phenomenon enables different kind of applications for frictionless transportation in environments that require very clean conditions like for chip production or food handling. In this paper, a initial study on the active dampening of oscillations that are induced due to outside effects, for example due to acceleration or deceleration of the module, is presented. A linear dynamic model for the oscillation behaviour of the levitation module is discussed and used to design a sway damping control algorithm that reduces these oscillations quickly and reliably. This is validated by simulations and experimental studies. It is shown that the damping in the system is vastly increased with this method.