AN EFFICIENT SENEOR ARRAY FOR A LATFE-GAP MAGNETIC LEVITATION SYSTEM

A magnetic levitation control system is nonlinear and very unstable. Thus there should be a stabilizing compensation network and a feedback path. Due to the levitation control a noncontact photoresistor sensor is generally used. One photocell provides a certain amount of variation in length by the ball shadow casted on the cell surface. Furthermore at the boundary of the cell, the linearity of sensitivity deteriorates severely. To overcome the constraints of the length and linearity, an efficient sensor array is deviced and applied in the feedback path of a large-gap magnetic levitation control system. A number of CdS photocells and a summing circuit of the sensor output signals are used for a sensor array. The levitation length of a ball and the transient performances are main objectives of the large-gap suspension system using the sensor array.