Abstract of Thesis presented at COPPE/UFRJ as a partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science (M.Sc.)

The MAGLEV-COBRA Magnetic Levitation Train Prototype Operation Syncronization

Marcos Dantas Alves dos Santos

September/2010

Advisor:

Richard Magdalena Stephan

Department:

Eletrical Engineering

      The use of magnetic levitation (MagLev) train for mass transportation with linear motor drive is presented as a promising solution to some projects around the world. Japan, with the JR-MagLev, experimented in Yamanashi, and Germany, with the Transrapid technology, in an experimental line in Emsland, are the countries that invested most in this solution. Both technologies use a synchronous linear motor with long primary. As a part of the project, this long primary is divided into smaller chunks. As a result, the passage of the train between these parts must be synchronized. The linear motor type and the used sensors type, in addition to where they are placed, in the rail or at the train, substantially affect the methodology of actuation over the vehicle as it is driven with no bumps and especially without loss of synchronism during acceleration between the parts of the linear motor. In this thesis, among the sensors evaluated, the choice of a Hall effect switch associated with a linear velocity sensor developed at the Laboratory for Applied Superconductivity (LASUP) was chosen. The synchronization was implemented in the magnetic levitation train prototype of LASUP/UFRJ that employs a synchronous linear motor with long primary. Experimental tests confirm the viability of the proposed method.