Decentralized H∞ Control of Maglev Systems

This paper presents a decentralized H<sub>∞</sub> controller design for controlled-permanent-magnet systems with multiple magnets. The structure of the decentralized H<sub>∞</sub> controller is simple and the computational burden is less than that of the centralized H<sub>∞</sub> controller. The decentralized H<sub>∞</sub> controller uses two Riccati equations and has an iterative form. The controlled-permanent-magnet system with two magnets is mathematically modelled and an experimental vehicle has been built to study the performance of a multi-magnet system. Some control problems in magnetic levitation systems such as the reference input tracking and the disturbance rejection are solved by adopting the H<sub>∞</sub> controller. Also, the possibility to apply the presented decentralized H<sub>∞</sub> controller to full-scale magnetic levitation systems is verified by real experiments