Magnetic Levitation Device

As the final project for our Controls Systems course at Duke University, a magnetic levitation system using an electromagnet powered by a regulated input voltage was used to levitate a magnetic sphere inside a Magnetic Levitation Unit. The voltage was controlled using a control schematic in Simulink and dSpace and Matlab to allow the motion of the ball to sit at a designated set point as well as dynamically track random inputs and sinusoidal and square waves. A final range of +/- 9 mm for static control, an amplitude of +/- 6 mm for random waves, and an amplitude of at least +/- 5 mm for waves of frequency 5 rad/s or greater were reliably controlled using a negative-feedback proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller.

More details are included below in our project report.