Magnetic suspension actuator control in ball and beam system demonstration

This paper presents a backstepping control implementation on magnetic suspension actuators to demonstrate a ball and beam system performance. A magnetic suspension actuator is located on side of the beam for up and down operation to control the ball position. Characteristics on the magnetic suspension actuator are studied from the design concept to construct a ball and beam system. The mathematical model of the system was derived via the Lagrangian function. The magnetic force as a function of position and coil current was measured and modeled by a quadratic function. A control law was developed following backstepping control procedures. To implement this ball and beam system, a linear feedback sensor and control circuit is designed and fabricated using a single chip microprocessor with basic electronic circuits as the control kernel. The ball and beam system is tested on both static and dynamic performance, especially in oscillatory stabilization and sinusoidal tracking.