Analysis and design of a magnetically levitated planar motor with multi-layer overlapping windings

A novel permanent magnet planar motor with moving multi-layer overlapping windings is presented in this paper. In the motor, overlapped X and Y windings are divided into four parts. By controlling the currents, normal forces and thrust forces along y and x axes can be adjusted individually to realize 5 degree-of-freedom(DOF) motion with thrust forces uncoupled. And the winding topology can weaken the influence of the end effects of coils without reducing winding utilization. By using surface current method and 3D FEM results, the flux density distribution and force characteristics of the motor are analysis. Based on the relationships between the main dimensions and the forces, the design criteria of the magnetic array and the windings are obtained. The experiments results of a prototype are in good agreement with the result from the analytical and FEM method. The validity of the analysis and simulation is verified.