Magnetic Levitation System with Interface for Position Control

Abstract

This paper exposes the development of a magnetic levitation plant and graphical interface for control the position of a suspended permanent magnet and for monitor the control signal. This plant besides its interface have a didactic purpose to allow the students to observe how the control variable of the system changes with perturbations, as well as the design of a PD controller for a linear approximation of a non-linear system. The implementation is composed of the controller circuit (OPAMP and Hall Effect sensor), the power circuit (transistor and electromagnet), and a microcontroller to communicate with the graphical interface through computer. The graphical interface was developed with the Graphical User Interface (GUI) editor of MATLAB. It has been performed different tests with the prototype, and they verified that the designed controller worked properly keeping the levitating object in the desired position.