Reduction of the Actuator Number in Magnetic Suspension

This paper proposes a new approach for the design of magnetic suspensions. It is based on the feasibility of non linear control of electromagnets involved in such suspension. It suppresses the necessity of symmetry in electromagnet location, and it is shown that only (n+l) actuators are required to actively control n degrees of freedom. The synthesis of control scheme is detailed for the levitation of a beam with two degrees of freedom. Simulation results illustrate the good behavior of position and control variables when minimum number of actuators are activated at one time.