Indirect Method to Measure of Initial Mover Position in Flux-Modulated Linear Actuator for Five-Axis Gantry Robot Using Low-Cost Current Sensors and Considering End Effect

An initial mover position (IMP) detection algorithm for a dual-saliency flux-modulated permanent magnet linear synchronous motor (DS FM-PMLSM) for a five-axis gantry robot has been proposed in this proposed work. The proposed IMP algorithm uses the saliency of the proposed machine, which results in the inductance variation and checks the change in the inductance by providing sequential current profiles. The effect of the end region at the entry and exit are included to check the robustness of the proposed IMP. A design platform using MATLAB and Altair-Flux has been developed to simulate the proposed IMP algorithm for different positions of the mover. Based on the simulation model, a test setup is developed using a low-cost sensor and six-step inverter and tested the validity of the proposed IMP algorithm for the DS FM-PMLSM.