Design & Control of Bearingless drive for Rim Driven Thruster

A motor design and control strategy for a bearingless rim-driven thruster is proposed that obviates the need for a conventional radial bearing, greatly reducing mechanical complexity and wear. The modelling of the system is explained along with the conrol strategy, including a cascaded control scheme. The physical implementation in a working prototype with combined windings is presented and test results are reveiled. These display the functioning of the bearingless drive at various rotational speeds. The results are discussed and future research directions are identified.