Modeling and robust control of a magnetic bearing system

Active magnetic bearing technology offers a number of advantages over conve ntional bearings including high speed, low power losses, and low maintenanc e costs. These benefits can, however, only be achieved by advanced signal p rocessing and control. In this paper, a systematic approach is used to mode l and control a magnetic bearing system. An analytic model of the magnetic bearing system is derived whose parameters are then optimized to correlate with the measurement data. The control system is then designed based upon t he model and the associated modeling error. A multi-objective control desig n method that accounts for a set of robust stability and performance requir ements is used to design a controller, which is then implemented using a di gital signal processor board. The design is verified to improve the perform ance of the existing system.