Abstract
In this paper, series-type multiple magnetic suspension systems are studied. Several floators are suspended in series by one electromagnet in these systems. The nearest floator by the electromagnet is directly suspended by the electromagnet. The others are indirectly suspended by the attractive force due to the magnetization of the floators. The controllability and observability of series-type multiple magnetic suspension systems that have arbitrary number of floators, and in which the nearest floator by the electromagnet is detected are proved mathematically. A series-type multiple magnetic suspension system was fabricated in order to verify the analyses experimentally. In the fabricated system, magnetic suspension units that are equipped with a sensor and an electromagnet are used instead of the normal floators to study on various conditions. As the first step to realize the levitation of multi floators using one electromagnet and one sensor, a basic trial is carried out in the fabricated system.
