Design and Analysis of a Spoke Array Vernier Machine for Automatic Guided Vehicles

This article proposes a consequent pole-spoke permanent magnet vernier motor (CPSPMVM) with auxiliary permanent magnets (PMs) for electric automatic guided vehicles (AGVs) to reduce the magnetic flux barrier effect on the spoke array vernier motor. The proposed consequent pole structure of tangential excitation not only saves the cost of PMs, but also provides a magnetic flux path for the working harmonics of low-pole pairs. To further improve the torque, the auxiliary PMs are added at the rotor tooth to increase the flux, and to improve the back electromotive force (EMF) and output torque. In addition, the equivalent air gap flux density is modeled by using the simplified magnetic equivalent circuit (MEC), and the advantages of consequent poles and auxiliary PMs are analyzed. The pole–slot combination, tooth width coefficient, and split ratio of the proposed machine are analyzed by the finite-element method (FEM), and the output performance of the proposed machine is compared with that of the other two machines. Finally, a 400-W prototype is designed and manufactured to verify the above analysis and the superiority and feasibility of the machine.