SPEEDAM 2006

International Symposium on Power Electronics,

Electrical Drives, Automation and Motion

Control design aspects for an

EDS levitation system
M. Andriollo*, S. Carmeli**, F. Castelli Dezza**, M. Mauri***
* Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Padova, Via Gradenigo 6/a, 35131 Padova, (Italy)
** Electrotecnical Department, Politecnico di Milano, P.zza Leonardo da Vinci 32, 20132 Milano, (Italy)
*** Mechanical Engineering Department, Politecnico di Milano, Via La Masa 34 20156 Milano, (Italy)

Abstract—EDS systems based on high frequency supplied z

windings are convenient candidates in standstill and low Rm Rm
motion applications where strict mechanical tolerances are a
not practicable. In this paper a simple EDS system, based on real coil
a single levitation coil is presented. Images approach has b
been used to tune up a simplified model of the levitation coil
in order to design levitation control. Simulations and h
conducting slab y
preliminary experimental results are presented in order to
x
validate the EDS system model and control. h

Index Terms—EDS, magnetic levitation, image modeling.

image coil
I. INTRODUCTION Fig. 2. Coil sizes (a, b: cross section width and height, Rm: mean coil
radius)
In some industrial application magnetic levitation may be z
a desirable option, provided that it is achieved with a
relatively inexpensive apparatus, using robust control
system and when mechanical tolerances are not too dz
severe. To such purpose, EDS systems based on high dz
frequency supplied windings can be convenient h
conducting slab y
candidates, especially in standstill and low motion
x
applications, since levitation is independent from the h
relative motion between the load and the active or passive dz
guideway. In its simplest configuration, an EDS image coil
levitation system is represented by a coil faced to an dz

horizontal slab with high electrical conductivity V and

Fig. 3. Application of the virtual work principle related to a vertical
magnetic permeability ȝ§ȝ0 (Fig.1). displacement dz to evaluate the levitation force Fz

z The levitation force can be evaluated applying the virtual

real coil
h of magnetic energy can be obtained as twice the
h y
x Many analytical and pseudo-analytical formulations
image coil
conducting slab
Fig. 1. Parallel perspective of the coil and of its mirror image (h:
levitation height)
Supplying the coil with an alternating current of
relatively high frequency f and provided that the
conducting plate thickness is larger than the skin depth
į=1/ SfPV, the electrodynamic effect can be reproduced
by replacing the plate itself with a fictitious “image” coil
placed symmetrically to the real coil with respect to the
plate surface (Figure 2).
work principle: a vertical coil displacement dz results in
an opposite displacement –dz of the image coil, so the
relative displacement is 2dz (Figure 3) and the variation
difference between the values of the surface integral of
the tangential component Aș(r,z) of the magnetic potential
vector generated by the image coil on the upper and on
the lower face of the coil.
related to such configuration can be retrieved in literature,
mainly concerned with the evaluation of coil self and
mutual inductances. The electrodynamics effects can be
derived from such formulations taking the derivative of
the magnetic energy with respect to the displacement
variable or by the direct integration of the expression of
Lorentz’ force all over the coils volume.
The levitation force can be therefore expressed in per unit
value, assuming the levitation height h as the base
quantity ( * superscript denotes p.u. value), as indicate in
(1):

1-4244-0194-1/06/$20.00 ©2006 IEEE

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 a* di d[ dL([ )
Rc i (t )  L[ 
*
Rm 
2
§ *§ * *
· § * ·
· v(t )  i (t ) (4)
Fz h  2 4 ¨ AT ¨ r ,2  3b ¸  AT* ¨ r * ,2  b ¸ ¸r *dr * (1) dt dt d[
2J ˜ h ³ ¨ ¨
© 2 ¹¸ ¨
© 2 ¸¹ ¸¹
* a* ©
Rm 
2 evidencing the coil current i:
with
a* b*
*
Rm  t
S 2 2
U * cos T ˜ dz * ˜ dU * ˜ dT 1 § § d[ dL([ ) · ·
*
AT r , z * *
 ³ ³ ³
0 r * *
*
U   z
* 2 *
] * 2
 * *
 2r U cos T
(2) i (t ) i (0) 
L([ ) ³
0
¨ v(t )  ¨¨ Rc 
¨
© ©
¸i (t ) ¸dt
dt d[ ¸¹ ¸¹
(5)
* a b
Rm  
2 2

where Rc is the coil resistance, taking into account

and J is the current density. (1) shows that the force the shield losses due to the induced currents but
depends on the coil extension raised to the fourth power, neglecting variation effects due to the vertical
according to a well-known law scale [1]. displacement. Eq. (5) can be numerically integrated
since the expression of the inductance derivative can
II. LEVITATING COIL MODEL be straightforwardly obtained from (3).
x expression of the levitation force f(t) given by:
A. Simulink model
In order to design and test the control system, a 1 dL([ ) 2
SimulinkTM simulation of levitating coil has been f (t ) i (t ) (6)
2 d[
implemented according to the following equations
(Fig.4):
x dependence of the coil inductance on the vertical B. Stability analysis
displacement [=z–z0 with respect to the reference Neglecting the aerodynamic drag due to the low coil
levitation height z0, defined using a simplified speed, the equilibrium point stability is analysed
exponential expression [1]: according to the mechanical dynamic equation related to
the vertical motion:
[

L[  Lf  L0  Lf e J
(3) d 2[
f (t )  mg m (7)
dt 2
with J characteristic height and L’ and L0 inductance
values related to the actual coil self inductance (i.e., Assuming little variations '[ of the vertical displacement
unaffected by the shield effect) and to the reference
and 'I of the r.m.s. current value around the steady-state
levitation height z0, respectively. These values are
obtained by fitting the results obtained by the above equilibrium point {0, I0= 2mgJ / Lf  L0  } [2], (7) can
presented analytical approach or by a sequence of be linearized as:
FEM analyses.
x representation of the electrical behavior of the coil '[ D'I  E'[ (8)
controlled current source depending on the applied
voltage v, the vertical displacement [ and the height
where, according to (3) and (6), D, E, K can be expressed
rate d[/dt rearranging the voltage equation:
as:

+ v –

d[/dt
× ––+ ×
1/s i
y 1/s

Rcc
R
[
 n
L[ Lf L0 Lfe J

2
[ u
u2 i
[ ×
 0.5
1/2 f
L'[ kL0 Lfe J

Fig. 4. Model block diagram

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 2 g ( Lf  L0 ) g
D E (9)
mJ J

Considering the Laplace transforms X(s) and I(s) of '[

and 'I, respectively, (8) can be rearranged to define the
transfer function linking the vertical displacement to the
current variation:

X (s) D
F (s) 2
(10)
I ( s) s E

Since F(s) has only imaginary poles, the steady-state

equilibrium point {0, I0} is not asymptotically stable. Fig.7.Coil position vs velocity
Therefore, an external damper system (mechanical or
electrical [3]) is necessary to prevent unwanted
oscillation around the equilibrium point.

III. OPEN LOOP SIMULATION RESULTS

In order to verify the theoretical considerations, some
numerical simulations were performed assuming an open-
loop arrangement of the supply system according to the
electric circuit diagram of Fig.5 and carried out in the
experimental set-up (data of Tab.I and II). Figure 6 shows
the levitation height vs. time: the undamped oscillations
around the equilibrium height confirm the stability
analysis. The persistence of the oscillations is confirmed
by the progress of the velocity vs. position (Fig.7). The
main benefit of this circuit arrangement is represented by
the low value of the ratio inverter current/coil current, Fig. 8. Inverter and coil current
confirmed by Fig. 8.
IV. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
variable frequency\
voltage converter An experimental set-up Preliminary was carried out for a
levitating coil preliminary feasibility test and allowed to check the
Ls model parameters and to verify the results of the open
loop simulations. The test configuration includes (see
Cd data of Table I):
x a square voltage single phase inverter with an open
loop voltage and frequency control;
Fig. 5. Circuit diagram of the supply system.
x an output filter inductance;
x a capacitor bank.
TABLE I
EXPERIMENTAL SET-UP PARAMETERS
Description Value
Inverter frequency range 0 – 5 kHz

Inverter voltage range 0 – 400 V

Inverter rated current 20 A

Filter Inductance Ls 0.512 mH

Bank capacitance Cd 77 PF

As concerns the coil, its parameters are reported in Table

II (inductance values obtained by a sequence of FEM
Fig. 6. Levitation height
analyses).

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 TABLE II
COIL PARAMETERS
Symbol Description
n Number of turns
m Coil mass
J Characteristic height
R 20°C mean resistance
L0 Coil inductance at z=z0=20 mm
resonance frequency: in fact, when the resonance
condition is achieved, the LC voltage is in phase with
Value
the inverter current;
52 - the levitation height and coil current are managed by
two PID controllers, to keep the current at the value
2.82 kg
necessary to balance the coil weight, at the actual
17.3 mm height (the contribution of the height PID controller is
limited to allow slight parameters mismatching);
0.252 : - the feed forward terms are introduced to improve the
control response.
0.345 mH

Lf Coil inductance at z=f 0.436 mH

Rm Mean coil radius 70 mm

a Coil cross-section width 40 mm

Force
b Coil cross-section height 16 mm
Gauge
Figures 9a-b shows the coil under test suspended by
nylon wires to a force gauge allowing to measure the
difference between the coil weight and the levitation
force to verify the achievement of the full levitation.
Different values of levitation height were tested. In
particular, for a levitation height z0 of about 20 mm, the
resonance condition, which allowed to obtain the
levitation consistently with the inverter rated current (20
A), was achieved for a frequency of about 1.1 kHz.
Under this operating conditions, the current peak value in
the LC loop is nearly 120 A. Experimental results have
confirmed the presence of undamped oscillations around a)
the steady-state equilibrium point.

V. THE CONTROL SYSTEM Nylon

Wire
To improve the system stability, eliminating the
persistent oscillations, a closed-loop control architecture
is devised (Fig.10), based on the following features:
- an estimator of the levitation height based on the coil b)
inductance value is implemented, allowing to spare a
height sensor; Fig. 9. Experimental coil: a) Force gauge b) wire details
- a factor displacement regulator is used to follow the

f ref
coil mass I ref I base V ref
L
h ref estimation estimation

+ V co mp +
+ PID + V ref
h ref PI Reg
_ Reg I co mp _ +

I
f ref
L h est
V LC L estimation h(L) V LC Factor
I f comp f ref
I inv displacement
f ref regulator + +
f base
sqrt(1/4S²CL)

Fig. 10. The proposed control architecture (on the left the estimator; on the right the compensator)

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VI. CLOSED LOOP SIMULATIONS
Some simulations were performed to test the control
effectiveness and to evaluate its performances.
Figure 11 refers to a closed loop simulation starting from
the reference height of 20 mm with a null coil current and
a 200 V capacitor voltage. It is possible to see that the
undamped oscillations are absent. The progress of the
velocity vs. position (Fig.12) confirms the achievement
of the asymptotic stability.
Fig. 11. Levitation height with a closed loop control.
Fig. 12. Position vs. velocity
Fig. 12. Levitation height with a mass variation.
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Figure 13 shows the evolution of the levitation height
imposing a linear variation of the reference height from
20 mm to 30 mm. Afterwards, for t=0.5 s, a sudden mass
increment of 1 kg is simulated. The effectiveness of the
control system response is confirmed for both the
operative conditions.
The influence of the compensating term, allowing to
balance the mass variation, is evidenced by Figure 14: the
current reference follows the height reference, while the
compensating current, ruled by the height controller,
allows to compensate the mass increment.
Fig. 14. Current reference and compensating term (peak values)
The resonance follower allows to limit the inverter
current during the overall transient; its effectiveness is
shown by Figure 14, related to the final transient phase: it
can be recognized the low value of the inverter current in
comparison with the coil current, even with a relevant
height variation and mass increase.
coil current
inverter current
Fig. 14. . Inverter and coil current after the mass increment.
VII. CONCLUSIONS
The presented preliminary analysis has been
underlined that it is possible to obtain a simple magnetic
levitation system using a coil and an industrial supply
converter. The presence of a resonant LC stage allows to
supply the required high coil current keeping the inverter
output current under its rated value.
 A simplified model of the system, obtained by a
suitable fitting of the FEM results, has been presented,
allowing a fast simulation of the whole system and
therefore simplifying control design. A preliminary
stability analysis, confirmed by the open loop
simulations, evidenced the presence of undamped
oscillations (steady-state equilibrium point without
asymptotic stability). In order to avoid mechanical or
electromagnetic dampers, a sensorless closed loop control
architecture is presented, allowing to eliminate
oscillations, to control the levitation height and to
compensate mass variations. Moreover, a frequency
resonance follower allows to limit the inverter current
with respect to the coil current. The simulation results
confirmed the effectiveness of the control strategy.
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