Real-time control of the 3-DOF sled dynamics of a null-flux Maglev system with a passive sled

The real-time control of the three degrees of freedom (DOF) dynamics of an electrodynamic (EDS) Maglev vehicle is presented. The design is based on a 5-DOF state-space model of the sled dynamics that uses a simple algebraic model to describe the interaction between the null-flux coils on the track and the permanent magnets on the sled. A first-order sliding mode controller with integral error term is used to control heave, pitch, and roll in real time from position-attitude information measured with sensors located on the sled. Experimental results show that control of the 3-DOF dynamics of the levitated vehicle in real time can be successfully achieved by the proposed method.