Design of Digital Controller for the Levitation of Variable Steel Balls by using Magnetic Levitation System

자기부상 시스템을 이용한 임의의 금속구 부상을 위한 디지털제어기 설계

Magnetic Levitation System(MLS) levitates a steel ball to the desired position in the gravity field using electromagnetic force. MLS consists of light sensor to measure the position of steel ball and an electromagnet to control the position of the ball, that composes a feedback control system. This work does not use a steel ball with constant mass but variable mass steel balls as magnetic levitation targets. Differential equation of electric circuit for electromagnet and motion equation of the movement of steel ball are derived for modeling nonlinear system, that will be linearized at the nominal operating point. We propose a digital control that can levitate a steel ball of which weight is not known for ED-4810 system. Algorithm for estimating ball weight and feedback control are implemented in digital scheme under pentium PC equiped with A/D and D/A converter, ACL-8112, using C-language. Simulation and experimental results are given to show the usefulness of the proposed controller.