Magnetic Levitation: The Effects of Fluid Damping and Control Distance in a Position Feedback Magnetic Levitation System

Overview

Objectives/Goals The purpose of this project was to determine the effects of dampening due to fluid viscosity (using water, air, and motor oil as test fluids) and distance from an electromagnet in a position feedback magnetic levitation system. Methods/Materials The materials used in this science fair project were an annealed soft iron screw, bolt, DC power supply, coil of copper wire, laser pointer, photodiode, wood with which the experiment was built, a control loop (constructed from electronic devices (detailed below)), a data acquisition unit (NI USB-6009), laptop, a metal test object, sail (Constructed from a plastic sheet), a tank for the fluid, water, and motor oil. Results For the tests done in water, as distance increased, the mean current in the solenoid also increased. In addition, the frequency of oscillation decreased. The amount of time the object was held remained fairly constant and then dropped off abruptly. For the tests done in oil, the findings followed a pattern similar to water (in terms of increases and decreases) for held time and mean current, however , it did not oscillate, instead, it simply levitated in place with minute changes in position, or the test object fell. This means that the standard deviation was always very low and the frequency measurements were irrelevant for oil. For tests done in air, increases in distance from the solenoid resulted in increased mean current, while frequency, standard deviation, and time held decreased as distance from the solenoid increased. Conclusions/Discussion The hypothesis was supported by the data. The results of this experiment give a fairly accurate representation of the limits of a position feedback electromagnetic levitation system. Further research should be done on a variety of other variables in the system, as is discussed in the conclusion of this experiment.

Competition history

• CSEF 2007 Electronics & Electromagnetics · Entry S0809

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

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