Magnetic Levitation - The Easy Way
A Magnetic Levitation project with standard components only - including a modified cheap standard relay as the electromagnet - and powered by a 5 V @ 50 mA USB power bank.
A floating object is always a fascinating eye-catcher, which I like to place on my desk. Many conversations at this table had a nice smalltalk beginning with it.
So in the last years I have recreated some "magnetic levitation" projects from various publications.
But I was never really satisfied with the results.: Too big, too unstable, gigantic power consumption(;-), the flight stability was not very good and especially the necessary electromagnet always had to be somehow winded around a screw by myself. The results were often not very nice to look at, but above all hardly reproducible.
So I had gained a lot of experience and a mechanical construction and a simple electrical circuit was created, which proved itself in all test setups:
Here you can see a video of the final setup: https://vimeo.com/430336526
# The HALL magnetic sensor used is an A1302 or its successor A1308 - the cheaper and widely used SS49 or similar types are NOT suitable.
# The necessary comparator is a LM311
# The magnetic coil is a cheap modified 5V standard relay with built-in switching transistor from the world of microcontroller actuators
# Two neodymium permanent magnets in disc form with 10mm or 12mm diameter are almost always used to make a LEGO man, a screw or even a table tennis ball float
# The power supply should not be very expensive. In the end it works very well with only 5V and only about 50mA. So a USB powerbank can be used as power supply - and can also be used as a safe stand.
# As a positioning aid, the relay's flyback diode has been replaced by a white LED with series resistor, which only lights up when the object is at the right height and hovers.
I had a lot of fun with this and hope this will make it easy for someone else to build such a "levitation project".
Good luck!
PS: Much more detailed documentation and more fotos at https://peterneufeld.wordpress.com/2020/06/20/magnetic-levitation-the-easy-way/
And the story goes on at https://peterneufeld.wordpress.com/category/levitation/
So in the last years I have recreated some "magnetic levitation" projects from various publications.
But I was never really satisfied with the results.: Too big, too unstable, gigantic power consumption(;-), the flight stability was not very good and especially the necessary electromagnet always had to be somehow winded around a screw by myself. The results were often not very nice to look at, but above all hardly reproducible.
So I had gained a lot of experience and a mechanical construction and a simple electrical circuit was created, which proved itself in all test setups:
Here you can see a video of the final setup: https://vimeo.com/430336526
# The HALL magnetic sensor used is an A1302 or its successor A1308 - the cheaper and widely used SS49 or similar types are NOT suitable.
# The necessary comparator is a LM311
# The magnetic coil is a cheap modified 5V standard relay with built-in switching transistor from the world of microcontroller actuators
# Two neodymium permanent magnets in disc form with 10mm or 12mm diameter are almost always used to make a LEGO man, a screw or even a table tennis ball float
# The power supply should not be very expensive. In the end it works very well with only 5V and only about 50mA. So a USB powerbank can be used as power supply - and can also be used as a safe stand.
# As a positioning aid, the relay's flyback diode has been replaced by a white LED with series resistor, which only lights up when the object is at the right height and hovers.
I had a lot of fun with this and hope this will make it easy for someone else to build such a "levitation project".
Good luck!
PS: Much more detailed documentation and more fotos at https://peterneufeld.wordpress.com/2020/06/20/magnetic-levitation-the-easy-way/
And the story goes on at https://peterneufeld.wordpress.com/category/levitation/
Discussion (1 comment)
Michiel Perdeck 1 year ago
An alternative might be to use a light beam which is interrupted by the floating object. Has this alternative be considered? Of course, a disadvantage of this method is its sensitivity for stray light. The latter might be mitigated by using light intensity modulation and reacting on the received modulation amplitude.
Senior Editor, Elektor 1 year ago
this is an interesting point. As you (correctly) anticipated, in this project the magnetic control was preferred due to its insensitivity to the ambient light. On the other side, using a light-based control method in a full daylight environment requires some caution and some design expedients, too.
The subject of light control of a floating object, in its own right, is quite interesting indeed and could be matter for an article.
Are you interested in making a project for our magazine? You could submit your concept writing to editor@elektor.com (to my attention), please let us know, thanks!
Roberto Armani