2017 IEEE 13th International Conference on Electronic Measurement & Instruments
Research on subway acceleration measurement method based on magnetic
levitation technology
Kong Deshan, Jiang Dong, Liu Xukun,Wang Deyu
School of electrical and Electronic Engineering, Harbin University of Science and Technology
Harbin 150000, China
Email:455731088@qq.com
Abstract –In order to realize the subway acceleration
measurement, a magnetic suspension vibrator structure was
adopted, and a magnetic suspension acceleration measuring
system was designed. The magnetic field variation in the
acceleration process was analyzed and simulated by using
simulation software. The dynamic equations of the magnetic
suspension vibrator under the accelerated motion were deduced.
The sensitivity of the measurement system is improved because
the method can effectively overcome the friction that the
traditional accelerometer can not be avoided. The performance
of magnetic levitation acceleration measurement system was
analyzed by experimental results. The acceleration of Metro
locomotive was measured practically, and the feasibility of the
system was verified by taking the experimental data of 3D gyro
accelerometer as reference. The experimental results show that
the sensitivity of this method is higher. The design method
provides a new idea for the design of acceleration sensors.
Keywords –Magnetic suspension, Acceleration measurement,
Oscillator, Dynamics equation, Electromagnetic force.
I. INTRODUCTION
The traditional accelerometer measurement methods
include piezoelectric accelerometer, closed-loop liquid
pendulum, flexible pendulum, vibrating beam, strain
type and pendulous integrating gyro, etc[1-7]. The
oscillators in the measuring system are usually contact
type, and the vibrator and the measuring instrument are
elastically connected, and there is friction, so it has an
effect on the measurement results[8].Using suspension
technology to design the oscillator of a measuring
system into a suspension state can effectively overcome
its influence.
Suspension technology includes electromagnetic
suspension, acoustic suspension, light suspension, air
suspension, superconducting levitation, etc. Magnetic
suspension is one of the most mature technologies
among them[9-12]. At present, this technology is widely
used, such as magnetic suspension bearings, magnetic
suspension trains and magnetic suspension stage [13-15].
Magnetic suspension can eliminate the adverse factors
such as sliding, energy loss, heating and other factors
that occur on the contact surface [16]. The friction in the
978-1-5090-5035-2/17/$31.00 ©2017 IEEE

ICEMI’2017
traditional accelerometer is eliminated, and the
sensitivity and accuracy of measurement can be
improved. Compared with the traditional mechanical
contact detection method, it has obvious advantages.
Different from the traditional system of damping
measurement, the damping coefficient can be realized
by using electronic circuit in the magnetic levitation
acceleration measurement method. Therefore, the
damping of the oscillator can be adjusted [17].
The existing magnetic suspension accelerometer is a
super paramagnetic accelerometer and uses
superparamagnetic suspension, and the paramagnetic
floating body is mainly composed of nanometer grade
Fe3O4. Superparamagnetic is the magnetic susceptibility
of ferromagnetic materials with a single domain
structure under external magnetic field at a suitable
temperature under the action of external magnetic field.
But the super magnetic accelerometer has a small range
of detection and is not suitable for the scene with large
acceleration. In this paper, the permanent magnet
oscillator structure is used to widen the measuring range
of acceleration. It is especially suitable for the
acceleration measurement of the starting and braking of
the subway with larger and larger acceleration.
II. WORKING PRINCIPLE AND MODEL
A. Working principle
Suspension type acceleration measurement principle
as shown in Fig.1, measuring device remains stationary
case, the magnetic measuring device is connected with
the base of subway locomotive, Hall sensor measuring
static voltage to output voltage static to standard
voltage. The voltage output is amplified by a drive
circuit to adjust the electromagnetic coil current so that
the magnet is stably suspended.
Fig. 1 Schematic diagram of measurement.
2017 IEEE 13th International Conference on Electronic Measurement & Instruments ICEMI’2017

When the Metro locomotive starts to accelerate, the C. System design

base of the measurement model accelerates with the
(1) Whole structure
subway, while the suspension magnet remains
The acceleration model of magnetic suspension
stationary due to inertia, The magnetic induction
measurement is mainly composed of Hall controlled
intensity Bx and the control current i(x) are increased
switch circuit, two groups of H bridge drive circuit in x
around the Hall sensor. With the acceleration a of the
direction and y direction, arithmetic amplifying circuit
locomotive increasing, the electromagnetic coil current
and two sets of electromagnetic coil circuit. The block
is increasing, and the suspension magnet is increased
diagram of the system is shown in Fig.3.
by the same force F as the direction of motion, and the
suspension magnet accelerates the movement. 6ZLWFK
According to the offset displacement of the induction FRQWURO
FLUFXL
suspension magnet of Hall sensor, the acceleration can 2SHUDWLRQDO 2SHUDWLRQDO

be obtained, and the acceleration motion of the Metro (OHFWURPDJQHWLF

can be obtained by the same way.
B. Measurement model design
The measurement system model is shown in Fig.2,
The base is composed of a permanent magnet and four
sets of electromagnetic coils. Wherein, the permanent
magnet supplies vertical magnetic force to the
suspension magnet, the electromagnetic coil controls
the horizontal movement of the suspension magnet, and
the fixed base is convenient for connecting with the
subway locomotive. The electromagnetic coils are
placed in the annular permanent magnet and placed in a
cross position. The Hall sensors are placed in the
middle of the four sets of electromagnetic coils to
measure the position signal of the suspension magnet,
to control the switch of the circuit, and to adjust the
control current so as to achieve the balance of the
electromagnet.
DPSOLILHU
DQG Hall
DPSOLILHU
DQG (OHFWURPDJQHWLF
FRLO FRLO
;GLUHFWLRQ
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sensor +EULGJH
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Fig. 3 Diagram of system structure
(2) System design
As shown in Figure 4 and figure 5, the main circuit
design of the Maglev. Measurement system includes
the H bridge drive circuit, the Hall switching circuit
and the coil control circuit. In the absence of a negative
power supply, the H bridge drive circuit provides
positive and negative currents for the solenoid coil. The
Hall switch circuit protects the circuit from overheating
and damages the circuit without placing magnets. The
coil control circuit is designed to change the coil
voltage rapidly. The control circuit passes through the
filter circuit first, then through the voltage stabilizing
circuit, takes the 1/2 voltage of the voltage stabilizing
circuit as the reference voltage, and connects to the H
bridge drive circuit by the amplifying and comparing
circuit of the LM324. As shown in Figure4(a) H bridge
driving circuit, each drive circuit composed of two
electromagnetic coils, the electromagnetic coil link
when the left voltage is higher than the right, triode T1
and T5 turn-on, when the voltage is reversed, the triode
T3 and T4 turn-on. The coil current is controlled in two
directions so that the suspension magnet can be
reversed when it deviates from each other.

Fig. 2 Model of maglev system

The lower part of the electromagnetic coil is
provided with a metal radiating fin, and a temperature
control switch is connected on the radiating fin. When
the temperature is higher than 65oC, the temperature
control switch is disconnected to prevent the
overheating of the circuit caused by the excessive
current. The radius of the suspension magnet is
r=0.05m, the mass is m=0.029kg, the magnet balance
position is y=0.01m, and the resistance of each (a) H bridge drive circuit.
electromagnetic coil is 3.4ȍ.


2017 IEEE 13th International Conference on Electronic Measurement & Instruments ICEMI’2017

­§ 1 1 · U A UD
°¨  ¸ U B   0
°© 1R R3 ¹ R1 R3
°§
° 1 1 · UD UI
®¨  ¸ U B   0
°© R8 R6 ¹ R8 R6
°1 1
° UB  UD 0
°̄ R4 R4
(1)
The above formula is deduced˖
U A UB UD UI
(2)
(b) Hall switching circuit.
Fig. 4 Drive circuit and protection circuit. Thus, when the input is DC, the input voltage UA
and the output voltage UD are equal˖
Due to the direct control of the electromagnetic coil,
the current of the electromagnetic coil maintains a large UDI 0
(3)
current in the electromagnetic coil in order to control
the suspending magnet and is easy to damage the When the magnet is stationary, the solenoid has no
circuit. Therefore, Hall control switch circuit is added control current.
to the circuit, as shown in Figure4(b). When the Because of the position offset of the suspending
suspension magnet approaches the Hall element, the magnet and the AC component caused by the
Hall switch circuit is turned on to prevent excessive capacitance inductance in the circuit, the circuit
current from the suspension magnet from being in a equation can be listed as follows:
predetermined position.
As shown in Figure 5, the coil control circuit, the ­ §1 1 · U A UD
°- ¨  ¸ U B   0
system by Hall components to measure magnetic field R
° © 1 R3 ¹ R1 R3
changes, into voltage signals UH, the voltage amplified °§
by the amplifier, as shown in the drive circuit to control °¨ 1  1 ·¸ U B  U D  U I 0
the electromagnetic coil. °© R1 R6 ¹ R8 R6
®
°1 1
° R U A  R UD 0
° 1 3

°1 1
° R UD  R UI 0
¯ 8 5
(4)
Push down the voltage at both ends of the coil˖

Fig. 5 Coil control circuit
The current in the circuit is supplied by a DC
component and an alternating component, and a DC
component is supplied by the 12V power supply in the
circuit. The equations are established according to
Figure 5 as follows.
U DI -6U A
(5)
The circuit acts as an advance control, so that the
control voltage is zero when the suspension magnet is
stationary at equilibrium. During acceleration, the UH
increases, and the control voltage UDI increases to six
times of the UA. The response of the suspension magnet
is controlled quickly.
D. Equation of motion
The force is divided into two parts: the permanent
magnet force and the electromagnetic coil force. The
electromagnetic coil force Fe, the electromagnetic coil
current is driven by the Hall component circuit, when
the suspension magnet moves vertically, the induction
surface of the Hall element has no relative motion with
the magnetic field, and the magnetic field is not
generated at the induction surface. When the magnet


2017 IEEE 13th International Conference on Electronic Measurement & Instruments ICEMI’2017

moves vertically, the electromagnetic coil has no effect 15.2 dx

on the suspension magnet. When the suspension a=62.1x+˄ +1.9˅2 K  93.1 (10)
x dt
magnet moves in a horizontal direction, the direction of
the magnetic field of the induction surface of the Hall
In formula, K can be obtained by electromagnetic
element is changed, and after the circuit is amplified,
coil current i, electromagnetic force Fe and
the suspension magnet is acted on by the
displacement x three-dimensional fitting.
electromagnetic coil to restore the balance state. The
permanent magnet force Fm, which moves vertically in
the central position, is subjected to the force acting in III. SIMULATION RESEARCH OF
the vertical direction of the center. With the increase of SYSTEM CHARACTERISTICS
z, the repulsion force Fx becomes smaller. When the
magnet moves horizontally, it only considers the force A.Simulation block diagram
acting along the horizontal direction of movement,
neglects the vertical motion of the suspension magnet The static magnetic field of permanent magnet is
in the measurement process, and the electromagnet is analyzed by using electromagnetic analysis software
symmetrical in structure and symmetrical in force. Maxwell/3D. Follow the simulation process shown in
Take the equilibrium point as the zero pointˈthe Fig.6. According to the actual drawing ring permanent
change of position for ¨x, Hall components using magnet, permanent magnet material using NdFe35,
linear Hall, output voltage VH and the magnetic permanent ring magnet, diameter R1=98mm, outer
induction B intensity is proportional to the output diameter R2=49mm, thickness of 10mm. The diameter
voltage of Hall VH˖ of the suspension magnet is R3=50mm, and its
thickness is 11mm. Place the center of the annular
VH PVC B  V0 (6) permanent magnet at the coordinate origin O, and place
the suspension magnet high z=30mm.
In formula: P 0.0024 is voltage coefficient ˈ
Vc=5v is control voltage, V0=6.5v is offset voltage, B is
magnetic flux density.
According to the principle of the circuit,
electromagnetism and dynamics, the dynamic model
equation of the maglev system is obtained:
­ d2x
°Fe (i, x)  Fm ( x)  fr m
dt 2
°
° i(x) 2
®Fe (i, x) K ( )
° x
° dx
° fr J dt
¯ (7)
In formula: suspension magnet m=0.029kg; J is
damping coefficient; electromagnetic coil equivalent
resistance R=3.4ȍ, Fm(x) is a permanent magnet force, Fig. 6 Simulation steps.
Fe(i,x) is an electromagnetic coil force, fr is damping
force, unit is N; i(x) is the current flowing through the The magnetic lines, magnetic field intensity and
electromagnetic coil, the unit is A. magnetic induction intensity of the magnetic
G suspension model are plotted by the simulation of the
J=
Td experiment and the post-processing of the software.
(8)
The stress analysis of the model is carried out, and the
In formula: G is logarithmic decay ratio, Td is the
stress change curve of the model in the z axis and the
decay period, and Td=0.0874s is measured. force relation in the horizontal direction are simulated.
A1
G =ln B. Simulation results of magnetic field
A3 (9) The magnetic suspension system is symmetrical
In formula: A1 and A3 adjacent positive peak structure. Firstly, the part is simulated, then the whole
amplitude, and obtain G =0.236. is simulated. As shown in Fig.7 (a), When the single
By formula (3)(6)(5)(7)(8)(11), the system side permanent magnet acts, suspension magnet force
dynamics equation is derived: is oblique to the right above the force of permanent


2017 IEEE 13th International Conference on Electronic Measurement & Instruments
magnet permanent magnet bias. Because the permanent
magnet is symmetrical, the suspension magnet is in the
center position, the magnet is balanced by force, and
the resultant force goes up vertically, as shown in Fig.7
(b).
(a) Unilateral permanent magnet action.
(b) Bilateral permanent magnet action.
Fig. 7 Magnetic simulation
With the suspension height of magnet h increased
force decreases gradually, will be suspended magnet
height to step into the variable h, the step of ¨ =0.1, the
initial position at h=20mm end in h=50mm. The
simulation results shown in Fig.6 ,the levitation magnet
has a gravity of G=0.29N . The position of the h=31mm
is balanced, the same as the actual suspension balance
position.
(a) Vertical force of permanent magnet.

ICEMI’2017
(b) Horizontal permanent magnet simulation.
Fig. 8 Simulation results
The force in the horizontal direction includes the
permanent magnet force Fm and the electromagnetic
coil force Fe , Maxwell simulation shows the
relationship between Fm and displacement x, as shown
in Fig.8. Fit the data to get the straight line in the graph,
and the equation is obtained by fitting the data by
Matlab:
F m ( x ) =1 .8 x x (11)
In formula: Fm(x) is the permanent magnet, the
force in the horizontal direction, the unit is N. x is
horizontal displacement, the unit is mm.
The simulation results show that when the magnet
moves along the x direction, the force can
approximately be regarded as a linear relationship.
C. Simulation of position and magnetic induction
intensity
The magnetic induction intensity at the Hall
component has a permanent magnet By and an
electromagnetic coil Bx together. When the current Ix
works, the magnetic field produced by the two coil in
the central position of O is the same in size, opposite in
direction, and the magnetic field is 0. At the center of
the O, consider only the magnetic field produced by the
permanent magnet. The Hall sensor sensing surface is
placed vertically only to the horizontal x direction B.
Set the x as a variable, change from -10mm to 10mm,
and plot the relationship between the simulation Bx and
the variable x.
Fig. 9 Magnetic induction intensity at Hall component
2017 IEEE 13th International Conference on Electronic Measurement & Instruments ICEMI’2017

The magnetic induction intensity of the Hall
element position is obtained by Maxwell simulation, as
shown in Fig.9. The magnetic induction intensity B is
linearly related to the offset displacement x, and agrees
with the actual situation.
IV. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS AND
COMPARISON
The magnetic suspension measuring system is fixed
on the Metro locomotive, and a set of electromagnetic
coils is placed along the direction of the subway to
measure the voltage at the two ends of the
electromagnetic coil. Measure a complete acceleration
cycle of the metro, from the start of the locomotive to
the braking. As shown in Fig.10, the acceleration
waveform of the full acceleration period is measured.
Full cycle T=98s. The acceleration is a=0.12m/s2, the
duration is t=10.78s, while the gyro accelerometer is
used
for acceleration measurement, and the gyroscope is
used as the standard for comparison.
Fig. 10(a) measures the control voltage waveform
for the magnetic levitation system, as shown in Fig.
10(b), the acceleration measured by the gyro, as
compared to the output waveform in 0-100s time.
Among them, the A section is the static state of the
Metro locomotive, the acceleration is 0, and the output
voltage is basically 0. The acceleration of the B section
in the figure is accelerated gradually, and the output
voltage waveform and acceleration waveform are the
same. The C section is a uniform acceleration motion
of the Metro locomotive, and the output voltage is
attenuated due to the capacitance and inductance of the
electromagnetic coil in the circuit. The D section is the
acceleration motion which decreases gradually, and the
output voltage decreases until the train moves at a
uniform speed, which is the same as the acceleration
waveform. The E section is the uniform motion of the
Metro locomotive. At this time, the control voltage
becomes negative and the output voltage is attenuated
because the acceleration of the D section decreases. It
can be seen that when the subway is speeding up, the
system control voltage rises. Under uniform
acceleration, the control voltage is attenuated. When
the acceleration remains constant, the output voltage is
attenuated. Measurement of the control voltage
waveform complete response to changes in
acceleration, through the experiment, magnetic
levitation system can be measured acceleration.

(c) Magnetic suspension system measuring controllable voltage

(d) Gyroscope measuring acceleration.

Fig. 10 Comparison of acceleration measurements
V. CONCLUSION AND FUTURE WORK
The suspended magnets in the subway locomotive
acceleration moment is relatively stationary, the
relative motion direction of a reverse acceleration in the
subway suspension magnet, through reverse
acceleration control electromagnetic coil voltage
balance suspension magnet, the measured acceleration
can reverse the suspending magnet subway car
acceleration measurement machine. The suspended
magnets in the subway locomotive acceleration
moment is relatively stationary, the relative motion
direction of a reverse acceleration in the subway
suspension magnet, through reverse acceleration
control electromagnetic coil voltage balance
suspension magnet. By measuring the reverse
acceleration of the suspension magnet, the acceleration


2017 IEEE 13th International Conference on Electronic Measurement & Instruments
measurement of the Metro locomotive can be realized.
It is proved by simulation and experiment that using
magnetic suspension system to measure acceleration is
feasible. Compared with the accelerometer with a
physically connected oscillator, the suspension magnet
has a higher sensitivity and a large measuring range
because of its absence of physical friction. In addition,
the designed measurement system uses a unipolar DC
battery, which is compact and portable. It is suitable for
the large horizontal acceleration measurement with
frequent changes. This is a new method for measuring
acceleration. In this paper, the feasibility of the
measurement method is studied. On this basis, can be
more in-depth research, such as the measurement range
and measurement accuracy of acceleration, and further
optimize the control circuit to achieve better
measurement accuracy and measurement range. On
this basis, can be more in-depth research, such as the
measurement range and measurement accuracy of
acceleration, and further optimize the control circuit to
achieve better measurement accuracy and
measurement range.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This work was supported by the Chinese National
Natural Science Foundation under Grant(51377037)
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AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Kong Deshan was born in Hebei Provence, China, in 1992.
He received B.E. from Tangshan College, Tangshan, China, in
2015. Now he is a master of electrical engineering and new
technology. He research interests include detection techniques
and sensors..
Jiang Dong was born in 1960, received his B.E. from Harbin
University of Science and Technology in 1983, M.Sc. from
Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Science in 1988,
and Ph.D. Degree from Harbin University of Science and
Technology in 2011.Now he is a professor in Harbin University
of Science and Technology. His main research field is signal
processing and measurement technology.
Liu Xukun was born in Anhui, China, in 1992. he received
B.S. from Suzhou University. Now he is a graduate of Harbin
University of Science and Technology. His research interests
include detection technique and data processing.