A nonlinear control method for the electromagnetic suspension system of the maglev train

To deal with the inherent nonlinearity and open-loop instability of the electromagnetic suspension (EMS) system, a new nonlinear control method is proposed. The simulation results show that, for a PID controller, the overshoot of the system response to an airgap step disturbance is about 3 mm, and the transient time is 6 s; however, for the proposed nonlinear controller, there is no overshoot and transient time within 2 s. The proposed method has a faster response and stronger robustness. With a designed bi-DSP suspension controller, this nonlinear control method was implemented on the Shanghai Urban Maglev Test Line (SUMTL) to validate its effectiveness and feasibility.