Construction and Levitation Guidance Experiment of Magnetic Levitation System without Gap Sensors Using Inductance Model of Thin Steel Plates

Abstract

Recently, the non-contact conveyance methods that are applied magnetic levitation techniques have been studied in many institutes. In this paper, from the view point of practical use, the authors construct a magnetic levitation system without using gap sensors which have been essential for the conventional magnetic levitation of thin steel plates. This system adopts both current sensors and Hall-effect sensors in place of the gap sensors. In addition, we consider the peculiar inductance characteristics of magnetic levitation for a thin steel plate. Moreover, we conduct the levitation, guidance, conveyance and disturbance experiments.