Electrostatic suspension system with sliding mode control

Two aspects must be considered in selecting the preload of electrostatic suspension system (ESS) for the electrostatic gyroscope (ESG), both the required load capacity and the tolerable electrical disturbing torques exerted on the rotor. By means of sliding mode control (SMC), ESS may operate in three modes: (1) two-sided linear suspension (2) single-sided nonlinear suspension, and (3) single-sided suspension with nonlinearity compensation. Therefore a low preload can be selected for reducing both the electrical disturbing torques and the power consumption, meanwhile ensuring the required load capacity. It has been proven by experiments that the ESS with 2 g preload can bear overload acceleration up to 6 g successfully.<
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