MAGNETIC LEVITATION

Submitted by
Priya Meghana (1510110223)
Srishti Panwar (1510110404)

Under supervision of
Dr. Amit Bakshi,
Department of Electrical Engineering,
Shiv Nadar University

Department of Electrical Engineering

School of Engineering

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 CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that Priya Meghana (1510110223) and Srishti Panwar (1510110404),
Electrical and Electronics Engineering, have successfully completed the project titled
“Magnetic Levitation” under the supervision and guidance of Dr. Amit Bakshi.

Dr. Amit Bakshi

Department of Electrical Engineering

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 ACKNOWLDEGEMENT

We would like to express our deepest appreciation to all those who provided us the
possibility to complete this project. A special gratitude to our 7th semester project supervisor,
Dr. Amit Bakshi, whose contribution in stimulating suggestions and encouragement, helped
us to coordinate our project especially in writing this report.

Further, I would also like to acknowledge with much appreciation the crucial role of the staff
of Mr. Kataria, who gave the permission to use all required equipment and the necessary
material to complete the task “Magnetic Levitation circuit.” Last but not the least, I would
like to thank the TAs who have invested their full effort in guiding the group in achieving the
goal. I also thank the panel members for their guidance and advice especially in our project
presentation.

Priya Meghana Srishti Panwar

1510110223 1510110404

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 CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION 6
1.1 Definition
1.2 Use
1.3 Issues
2. EQUATIONS 8
3. SCHEMATICS 10
4. COMPONENTS 11
4.1 Electromagnet
4.1.1 22 gauge wire
4.2 Hall Effect sensor
4.3 Microcontroller
4.4 Mosfet
4.4.1 Mosfet as a switch
4.5 Voltage Regulator and capacitors
4.6 Diode
4.7 Frame
4.8 Neodymium magnets
4.9 LED and Resistors

5. PARAMETERS 20

5.1 Finding Resistance

5.2 Finding inductance

5.3 Finding the no. of turns

6. PROCEDURE 22

7. OBSERVATIONS 24

8. ARDUINO CODE 25

9. REFERENCES 27

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 1.Introduction

1.1 Magnetic levitation

Magnetic levitation, also known as maglev, is used to suspend objects in air without any
support, using magnetic field. Magnetic force is used to counteract the effect of gravitational
acceleration. This technology is becoming more popular due to its frictionless and contactless
properties as it removes energy losses due to friction. In addition to supporting loads
(levitation), it can dampen vibration, apply precision force, and move objects precise
distances all with no contact between surfaces and essentially no friction. This type of
actuation can be used in harsh environments (corrosive, vacuum, etc.) where traditional
mechanical or hydraulic actuators might not survive. A magnetic actuator can operate in ultra
clean environments without the hazard of producing contaminants from its use. Magnetically
levitated stages are a better alternative for positioning systems because of their more robust
nature. The intent is to construct the system in low cost and low precision components and
still be able to levitate the magnet with high precision.

1.2 Applications

a) Maglev train is a famous application of the maglev technology.

Figure 1 Maglev Train

b) Maglev cars are supposed to be under development. These cars won’t require a track but
would fly in air.

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c) NASA is working on a maglev catapult that is predicted to reduce the costs and launching
problems of a spacecraft.
d) Also, Maglev elevators are already made and soon be put to use in Japan and China.
e) It can be used in high precision instruments, also absence of friction gives way to no
mechanical wear and tear of moving parts which results in high longevity e.g. Maglev
bearing

 Magnetic bearings support moving machinery without physical contact, for

example, they can levitate a rotating shaft and permit relative motion with very
low friction and no mechanical wear.

Figure 2 magnetic bearings

1.3 Issues:

The two primary issues involved in magnetic levitation are lifting force: providing an upward
force enough to counteract gravity, and stability: ensuring that the system does not
spontaneously slide or flip into a configuration where the lift is neutralised.

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 2. Equations

Derivation of system equations:

L0
L( x)  L1 
1 x / a
1 L0  2
W ' (i, x)   L1  i
2 1 x / a 

Here L1, a and L0 are constants. W’ is the co-energy. We know that,

W ' 1 L0
f   i2
x 2a 1  x a  2

When the sphere is in static equilibrium, the gravitational force is balanced by this force:

1 L0
Mg  I2
2a 1  d a 2

Given the current I, the equilibrium position d is determined. Perturbations z' from the
equilibrium lead to a perturbation current i'; that is,

x  d  x'
i  I  i'

Taylor series is given by :

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f  x, y   f  a, b   f x  a, b  x  a   f y  a, b  y  b   f  a, b  x  a   2 f xy  a, b  x  a  y  b   f yy  y  b 
2 2

2!
using the above, we get

L0  I2 2 x' I 2 2 Ii ' 
f     
2a  1  d a 2 a 1  d a 3 1  d a 2 

(a)

Using the equation of motion of the mechanical system,

d 2x
m  mg  f
dt 2

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The incremental equation of motion comes out to be this

d 2 x' L0 I 2 L0 Ii '
M   0
dt 2 a 2 1  d a 3 a 1  d a 2

For the system analysis, in generalised form, we get eqn a as the following

2Ci02 2Ci02
f1  2 i1  3 x1
x0 x0
di1
e1  Ri1  L
dt
d 2 x1
m   f1
dt 2
2
i 
f 0  mg  C  0 
 x0 

Taking laplace transform, we get,

 i 
F1 ( S )  k  I1 ( S )  0 X 1 ( S ) 
 x0 
E1 ( S )   R  LS  I1 ( S )
mS 2 X 1 ( S )   F1 ( S )

where,

i0
k  2C
x02

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 3. Schematic Diagram

Block Diagram:

Figure 3 Block Diagram

Circuit Diagram:

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 4. Components

4.1 Electromagnet

We slipped 2 one and a half inch washers on a three-inch bolt and screwed a nut all the way
to the end. We lined the bolt with black tape to keep the washers apart, and then wound 22
gauge magnet wire back and forth until it was the same diameter as the washers.

4.1.1 22 gauge wire:

It has a diameter of about0.0254 inches and a resistance of 52.7 per 1000m.

4.2 Hall effect sensor

A Hall Effect sensor measures the strength of a magnetic field.

Figure 4 Pin-out diagram of Hall-Effect sensor

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 Figure 5 Functional Block Diagram of Hall-Effect sensor

We have used OH49E linear Hall Effect sensor which is pretty inexpensive.

About OH49E:

OH49E Linear Hall-effect sensor is small, versatile linear Hall-effect device that is operated
by the magnetic field from a permanent magnet or an electromagnet. The linear sourcing
output voltage is set by the supply voltage and varies in proportion to the strength of the
magnetic field. The integrated circuitry features low noise output, which makes it
unnecessary to use external filtering. It also includes thin film resistors to provide increased
temperature stability and accuracy. The linear Hall sensor has an operating temperature range
of -40 °C to 85 °C appropriate for commercial, consumer and industrial environments.

Features:
 Miniature construction
 Low-Noise Output
 4.5V to 6V Operation
 Magnetically Optimized Package
 Linear output for circuit design flexibility
 Temperature range of -40 °C to 85 °C

Typical Applications:
 Motor control
 Magnetic code reading
 Ferrous metal detector

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 Current sensing
 Position sensing

Output characteristics:

When there is no outside magnetic field, the output voltage is one-half the supply voltage in
general. If a south magnetic pole approaches to the front face of the Hall effect sensor, the
output voltage will go higher. Contrary, a north magnetic pole will drive the output voltage
lower. The variations of voltage level up or down are symmetrical.

Figure 6Output characteristics of Hall-Effect sensor

4.3 Microcontroller used- ARDUINO

The Arduino Uno R3 is a microcontroller board based on the ATmega328. It has 14 digital
input/output pins (of which 6 can be used as PWM outputs), 6 analog inputs, a
16 MHz crystal oscillator, a USB connection, a power jack, an ICSP header, and a reset
button.

Features:

Microcontroller ATmega328
Operating Voltage 5V
Input Voltage (recommended)7-12V
Input Voltage (limits) 6-20V
Digital I/O Pins 14 (of which 6 provide PWM output)
Analog Input Pins 6

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DC Current per I/O Pin 40 mA
DC Current for 3.3V Pin 50 mA
Clock Speed 16 MHz

Figure 7 Arduino UNO

4.4 MOSFET

A metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) is a field-effect transistor

(FET with an insulated gate) where the voltage determines the conductivity of the device. It is
used for switching or amplifying signals.

4.4.1 MOSFET as a switch

When the MOSFETs are required to function as switches, they should be biased in
such a way that they alter between cut-off and saturation states. This is because, in
cut-off region, there is no current flow through the device while in saturation region
there will be a constant amount of current flowing through the device, just mimicking
the behaviour of an open and closed switch, respectively.

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Mosfet used in the circuit – IRFZ44N

Characteristics of IRFZ44N:

I. It is a power Mosfet.
 Power Mosfet show high switching speed

II. IRF-Z44N belongs to the N-channel family.

Figure 8 N-channel Power MOSFET structure

III. Like other transistors, it has three terminals named as Gate, Drain andSource. They
are denoted by the alphabets G, D and S respectively.

IV. Its features include very low on state resistance, high speed processing technology,
completely avalanche rated etc.

V. It is a low-cost device and provides higher efficiency

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 Figure 9 IRZ44N Pinout

IRFZ44N Ratings:

Figure 10 IRFZ44N Ratings

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4.5 Voltage Regulator and capacitors:

Used- LM7805

Figure 11 LM7805 Pinout Diagram

Figure 12 LM7805 Pin Description

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Capacitors are used to filter the residual AC noise. Voltage regulators work efficiently
on clean DC signal being fed. The bypass capacitors help reduce AC ripple. Essentially, they
short AC noise from the voltage signal and allow only DC voltage into the regulator.

Capacitors used were 0.47  F and 0.1  F .

4.6 Diode- IN4007

Figure 13 IN4007 Diode

Figure 14 Pin Description

A diode is a device which allows current flow through only one direction. That is the current
should always flow from the Anode to cathode. For 1N4007 Diode, the maximum current
carrying capacity is 1A it withstands peaks up to 30A.

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4.7 Wooden frame

We built a wooden frame to mount our electromagnet. The electromagnet was mounted on
the frame by bolting it through the top with a nut. The bolt was 7.62cm in which around 2 cm
was nutted. Therefore, the height of the wooden frame was around 20cms and the width was
around 10cms. The below box had around 10cms height and around 20cms width.

4.8 Neodymium magnets

Neodymium magnets are a member of the Rare Earth magnet family and are the most
powerful permanent magnets in the world. They are also referred to as NdFeB magnets, or
NIB, because they are composed mainly of Neodymium (Nd), Iron (Fe) and Boron (B).

Dimensions: 10mmx2mm Magnets.

No. of magnets used: 5

Figure 15 Neodymium Magnets

4.9 LED and Resistor

A Red LED along with resistor(1.2 k ) was connected to the gate of the Mosfet to check if
there is a gate drive.

Red LED characteristics:

 Wavelength- 630-660nm
 VF at 20mA is 1.8V

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 5. Parameters

5.1 Finding R:

A DC voltage was provided and the DC current was observed. We know that,

V
R
I

V I R
2 0.34 5.88
0.5 0.1 5
1.5 0.25 6
1 0.18 5.55
2.5 0.42 5.95

5.88  5  6  5.55  5.95

Ravg 
5
Ravg  5.676

5.2 Finding L:

AC Supply was given to the solenoid. Through an ammeter the current was found out.

For an AC supply, the frequency is 50Hz.

I V Z
0.31 15.04 48.51
0.50 22.16 44.32
0.4 18.65 46.48

48.51  44.32  46.625

Zavg= =46.48
3
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Now, we know that,Rdc= 5.6ohms. RAC = 1.5x5.6 = 8.4ohms

Z  R 2  wL2
46.48  8.42   2 x3.14 x50 xL 
2

2160.3904  70.56  98596 L2

L  0.021H

For DC supply, the frequency is 0HZ, considering that,

Figure 16 Output Characteristic of RL circuit

We know that, T=L/Rs; Rs considered was 47ohms. For 63% of Imax, time is 300microsec.

L
T
Rs
L
300 x106 
47
L  300 x106 x 47
L  0.0141H
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 6. Working of the circuit

The electromagnet is used to produce magnetic field to help levitate the object. The current
flowing into the electromagnetic coil will generate electromagnetic force to attract the
neodymium magnets. The physics behind it is to simply provide a magnetic force which is
equal and opposite of the gravitational force on the object. The net force between the
electromagnetic force and gravitational force will induce an up or down motion of the
magnets.

We mounted the electromagnet on the frame by bolting it through the top with a nut. We put
a piece of thermocol as the spacer and on the bottom of it is the Hall Effect sensor. The
spacer keeps the magnetic field of the electromagnet from disturbing the readings on the Hall
Effect sensor. We ran the output of the electromagnet and the three wires of the Hall Effect
Sensor down to the base.

This project uses a Hall Effect sensor to measure the distance between an electromagnet and
the permanent magnet. A microcontroller (Arduino) reads the Hall Effect switch and controls
the electromagnet to keep the magnet levitated. The face of the Hall Effect switch is sensitive
to a South Pole magnet. So when the South Pole magnet comes closer to the face of the Hall
Effect switch, it will output a voltage to pin 3 which is 2 millivolts per Gauss. So as the
permanent magnet is coming closer and closer to the face of the Hall Effect switch, it could
determine how far away it is by the intensity of the Gauss measurement.

This levitation circuit is powered by 10 volts. On the left is a 5-volt regulator 7805 that is
feeding 5 volts to power the Arduino and feeding 5 volts up to power the linear Hall Effect
sensor. The output of the Hall Effect sensor is fed into the A0 of the Arduino. The Analog
pins of the Arduino can take values between 0-5V. This is converted to digital which ranges
from 0 to 1023. The digital output is then fed to the gate of the MOSFET.

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The electromagnet is also powered by 10 volts and it’s turned on and off by the MOSFET
transistor IRFZ44N which is being driven by the GPIO output pin 6 of the Arduino. An LED
is connected to the gate of the MOSFET to indicate the gate drive which is energizing the
electromagnet. There is a freewheeling diode used with the solenoid which gives the current
through the solenoid a path to continue until the energy in the solenoid has dissipated.

In order to find the levitation point, we connected the electromagnet to the power supply of
10 V and read the ADC value of the Hall Effect sensor where the magnet was in equilibrium
position. This is the levitation point which we have used for our project. The magnet moves
above the levitation point, the gate is turned off i.e. the switch is open, and the electromagnet
is de-energized. As the magnet goes below the levitation point, the gate is turned on and the
electromagnet again attracts the magnet towards itself. Hence, a PWM pulse is observed in
which the turn on time indicates the time until which the switch is on. Therefore, we observe
the magnets to be oscillating around the levitation point.

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 7. Observations

 When the magnet goes below the levitation point, there is a current at gate of 10mA
which energizes the solenoid with 10V. We observe a current of 1.5A flowing through the
circuit.
 When the magnet is above the levitation point, the current through the gate is zero
because of which the mosfet is not turned on and there is no current through the circuit.
 When there is no magnetic field and a supply voltage of 5V is given, the hall effect sensor
output read a value of around 2.5V.
 When the south pole of the permanent magnet was approaching the hall effect sensor, the
output read a value of around 4.5V
 When the north pole of the permanent magnet was approaching the hall effect sensor, the
output read a value of around 0.5V

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 8. Arduino Code

int anaPin = 0; // Arduino Analogic Pin 1;

int digPin = 6; // Arduino Digital Pin 6;

//

int anaVal = 0; // Analogic Read(Hall Sensor) Value;

booleandigVal = 0; // Digital Write(Electromagnet) Value;

//

int levVal = 585; // Levitation Point Value;

int dlyVal = 250; // Delay Value Micro Seconds;

//---------------------------------------------------------|

void setup()

// Levitator initialization Begin;

Serial.begin(57600);

// Digital Pins Work Mode Setup;

pinMode(digPin, OUTPUT);

// Levitator initialization End;

//---------------------------------------------------------|

void loop()

// Hall Sensor Read (Magnetic Field Intensity);

anaVal = analogRead(anaPin);

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 //delay(250);

Serial.println(anaVal);

// Check the Levitation Point;

if (anaVal<levVal)

digVal = HIGH;

else // if (anaVal>levVal)

digVal = LOW;

//

// Turn ON/OFF The Electromagnet;

// With Base on Sensor Value and the Levitation Point;

digitalWrite(digPin, digVal);

delayMicroseconds(dlyVal);

//---------------------------------------------------------|

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 9. References
[1] T.H. Wong, “Design of a magnetic levitation control system – an
undergraduate project,” IEEE Transactions on Education, vol. 29, November
1986, pp. 196–200.
[2] Katie A Lilienkamp and Kent Lundberg, “Low-cost magnetic levitation
project kits for teaching feedback system design,” American control conference,
2004.
[3] H. H. Woodson and J. R. Melcher.,”Electromechanical Dynamics: Part I
Discrete Systems,” New York: Wiley, 1968. pp. 193–200.

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