CAREER: A Mechatronic Framework for Magnetic Suspension Technology

该学院早期职业发展（CAREER）奖支持磁悬浮技术的机电一体化框架的开发，该框架具有通过提供具有几个吸引人的优势的致动原理来显著影响制造和运输系统的潜力：运动部件的无摩擦相互作用，高速高精度定位，高分辨率和可重复性，以及无尘操作。 这些系统几乎无需维护，因为它们不受磨损，机械简单，易于组装和制造，并且可以提供比其他传统致动器技术更高的加速度和速度。 几个悬而未决的问题已经降级磁悬浮技术的一些实际应用。 磁伺服悬浮是一种基于电磁引力的驱动方式，具有不稳定、非线性、建模和控制困难等特点。 本课题致力于为该驱动原理的精确鲁棒控制提供理论依据。 所提出的方法是研究人员最近实验结果的扩展，这些结果表明实现这些系统的鲁棒和精确控制所涉及的两个关键要素：为了最小化近似电磁关系的使用，以及使用一种新的非线性控制算法，该算法对模型不确定性具有鲁棒性，并且不要求系统在控制输入中是仿射的。该技术将用于开发两个在广泛的应用领域的影响：多自由度高精度定位机器的半导体制造，和设计测试台架的主动控制悬浮的运输系统。 悬浮定位机械有望成为半导体制造业的下一代定位技术。 另一方面，磁悬浮运输系统是美国航天局目前正在研究的技术核心，目的是发展航天飞机运行的航天港能力。 拟议中的工作也将有助于开发一个框架，用于分析和设计的一个家庭的非仿射的输入，如汽车主动悬架系统，自主水下航行器等磁悬浮技术集成的知识，从几个领域：物理，机械设计，电力电子，控制理论，仪器仪表，数据采集和计算机编程的非线性问题。 这使得它成为跨几个领域的本科生和研究生的新颖，跨学科，综合教育体验的理想场所：机械和电气工程，物理和计算机工程。 该补助金的教育计划的重点是通过培养学生在多学科环境中解决问题的能力，提高学生的知识整合能力。

This Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award supports the development of a mechatronic framework for magnetic suspension technology, which has the potential to significantly impact both manufacturing and transportation systems by providing an actuation principle with several attractive advantages: frictionless interaction of moving parts, high precision positioning at high speeds, high resolution and repeatability, and dust-free operation. These systems are virtually maintenance-free because they are not subject to wear, are mechanically simple and easy to assemble and manufacture, and can provide higher accelerations and velocities than other conventional actuator technologies. Several unresolved issues have relegated magnetic suspension technology to a few practical applications. Magnetic servo levitation (SML), the actuation principal based on electromagnetic attractive forces, is inherently unstable, highly nonlinear, and difficult to model and control. This project is devoted to provide the theoretical basis for accurate and robust control of this actuation principle. The proposed approach is an extension of recent experimental results by the investigator that suggest two key elements involved in achieving robust and accurate control of these systems: to minimize the use of approximate electromagnetic relationships, and the use of a novel nonlinear control algorithm that is robust to model uncertainties and does not require the system to be affine in the control input.The technology will be used to develop two applications in areas of broad impact: a multi-DOF high-precision positioning machine for semiconductor manufacturing, and a design test bench for active control of superconductive levitation for transportation systems. Levitated positioning machinery is expected to be the next generation of positioning technology for semiconductor manufacturing. On the other hand, magnetically levitated transportation systems are at the core of technology currently under investigation by NASA to develop spaceport capabilities for the operation of space shuttles. The proposed work will also contribute to develop a framework for analysis and design of a family of nonlinear problems that are nonaffine in the input, such as automotive active suspension systems, autonomous underwater vehicles, etc. Magnetic suspension technology integrates knowledge from several areas: physics, mechanical design, power electronics, control theory, instrumentation, data acquisition and computer programming. This makes it an ideal ground for a novel, interdisciplinary, integrative educational experience for undergraduate and graduate students across several fields: mechanical and electrical engineering, physics and computer engineering. The educational plan of this grant is centered on providing students increasing degrees of competency in knowledge integration by cultivating problem-solving skills in a multidisciplinary environment.