Long Stroke Linear Switched Reluctance Actuator Displacement With a Fuzzy Logic Controller

Abstract

Linear switched reluctance actuators (LSRA) possess simple construction due to the absence of windings on either the stator or translator parts, being those windings concentrated. That windings structure makes the LSRA to become an actuator with a fail-save system. However, usage of this kind of actuator is difficult because of their demanding control. The machine control difficulty results from the fact that the actuator is highly dependent on its complex magnetic circuit, which is also complex to model and simulate. Observing actuator force maps, one can conclude that the developed traction forces depend on both relative stator to translator positions and coils excitation current. Thus, some well-chosen positions can be considered as optimal positions to trigger a specific actuator phase. This paper proposes a method, based on fuzzy logic control strategy, to determine automatically the best positions to perform the switching of converter connected with the actuator phases. This proposed converter switching sequence allows the control of the LSRA for long distance displacement.