Experimental frequency response evaluation for skyhook damping in an electrodynamic suspension testbench

Magnetic levitation in the transportation field has been a subject of interest in recent decades. Its promising potential for high-speed applications makes it an appealing alternative to air travel and conventional rail for inter-urban connectivity. Several levitation architectures exist, being passive or active. The present work addresses the design, deployment, and experimental validation of a skyhook controller for improved passenger comfort in electrodynamically levitated transport systems. A dedicated test bench is outlined, and the system is represented by a multi-domain lumped parameter approach. Closed-loop skyhook control is included, and a discussion on system stability is made. A reduction in stability is noted for increasing skyhook damping, however no performance degradation is expected. Experimental validation in frequency domain is made, using capsule acceleration and chirp current signal data. Comparison with model output from MATLAB and Simulink shows an adequate conformity of the frequency responses for four cases of skyhook damping. Improvement of passenger comfort is also noted for lower frequencies. The study highlights a holistic evaluation of real electrodynamic levitation with skyhook control.