A single deck 2D magnet levitation platform

This paper investigates the use of single deck design to achieve 2 dimensional magnetic levitation motion. The concept is use simple and repeated stator coil designs so that the stator can be extended to enlarge the traveling range of the motion stage. In this paper, a novel design for the stage/platform configuration enables the stator platform to not only levitate but also actively maintain constant position and orientation of the moving stage. The design is based on an array of vertically oriented solenoids. The permanent magnet stage design allows for both the levitation force and the lateral compensation forces. We used ANSOFT simulation to help the lateral force design consideration and used experimental setup to verify the concept.