Sensorless Control for Linear Electromagnetic Actuators with Permanent Magnet Mover

• Applicant: Professor Dr.-Ing. Ralph Kennel
• Subject Area: Electrical Energy Systems, Power Management, Power Electronics, Electrical Machines and Drives
• Term: from 2019 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 418870390

The aim of this project is sensorless control for linear electromagnetic actuators which have permanent magnets as mover. This type of actuators houses two coils in the stator connected in series where the currents have opposite directions and the mover is a disc shaped permanent magnet sandwiched between two pole shoes of ferromagnetic material. Due to their bidirectional force characteristic, these actuators are very beneficial for position control applications. Because of the additional cost and complexity of installing position sensors, the aim of this project is position estimation and control for these actuators. The position is estimated by estimating the position dependent magnetic properties of the actuator. Due to an inherent symmetry in the magnetic characteristics, at least two estimation methods would have to be combined in order to achieve position estimation in the full stroke range, yielding a complex and interesting research problem to solve.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants