System integration of a non-contact conveyer using magnetic levitation technology

This paper deals with the system integration of a magnetically levitated (Maglev) LCD glass conveyor. The vehicle is suspended by both electromagnets (EM) and permanent magnets (PM). Due to the use of the PM, power consumption for levitation is significantly reduced, ideally zero. A linear induction motor (LIM) is used for thrust, and the absolute position is measured by an optical barcode positioning system. Power is delivered by a contactless power supply (CPS), hence the vehicle is working completely contactless. The electromagnets are controlled to maintain a constant air gap, and precise position control with velocity profile generation is implemented for loading and unloading tasks. Some experimental results are given to verify the stability of the levitation and the tracking performance of the position control.