MagFloor: a Universal Magnetic Levitation Platform for Flexible Manufacturing

The magnetic levitation (maglev) technology supports contactless and frictionless operations using permanent-magnet movers and coil stators. The movers can be constructed using Halbach arrays (HAs) or disc magnets (DMs). The MagFloor platform equipped with a square coil array is developed to actuate both types of movers compatibly, covering a 1.8m-by-2.4m horizontal working area. The Lorentz force and torque (wrench) models between the magnet movers and copper-wired square coils are established using data-driven approaches. The implementation time cost of the wrench models for the HA and DM movers on the programmable logic controller (PLC) is 2.3 μs and 4.1 μs per mover-coil-pair, respectively. The mover poses are measured using an optical sensing system and controlled at 1 kHz. The HA mover has unlimited yaw angle rotations and a maximum 7.5mm air gap. The maximum air gap and roll and pitch range of the DM mover are 65mm and ±45°, respectively. The horizontal motion range for both movers is only limited by the platform geometry. The HA and DM movers verified on a small-scale platform will be studied on the proposed maglev platform (MLP). The horizontal operating range of the MLP is expandable using a modular design to a large scale for future research on flexible manufacturing applications.