Magnetic levitation or magnetic suspension is a method by which an object is suspended with no support other than magnetic fields.

Magnetic pressure is used to counteract the effects of the gravitational and any other accelerations. Magnetic Levitation means the support and propulsion of objects or vehicles by the use of magnets. The magnets provide support without contact or friction, allowing for fast, quiet operation.

Magnetic levitation, maglev, or magnetic suspension is a method by which an object is suspended with no support other than magnetic fields. Magnetic pressure is used to counteract the effects of the gravitational and any other accelerations. Earnshaws theorem proves that using only static ferromagnetism it is impossible to stably levitate against gravity, but servomechanisms, the use of diamagnetic materials, super conduction, or systems involving eddy currents permit this to occur. In some cases the lifting force is provided by magnetic levitation, but there is a mechanical support bearing little load that provides stability. This is termed pseudo-levitation. Magnetic levitation is used for maglev trains, magnetic bearings and for product display purposes.All materials experience a force when placed in a magnetic field of field gradient. The magnitude of the force depends upon the magnetic susceptibility of the material and varies over a wide range depending upon the material type, its molecular and atomic structure, and net magnetic field associated with the atoms. The need is the unpaired electrons because electron pair spin in opposite directions to give zero field while unpaired electrons give rise to a resultant field. Materials can be suspended in both directions i.e. from upward side by the attraction of the solenoid or can be repelled by holding an electromagnet downwards and when a repulsion force equal to mg is applied to repel the body it actually is levitated in air. The driver unit current go through the winding and electromagnetic force F will be generated by controlling the current in the electromagnet winding to balance the steel ball gravity force mg by the magnetic force, the steel ball will levitate in the air.

Magnetic Levitation System in the lab is mainly composed of solenoid, position sensor, amplifier/compensation device (driver), digital controller (PCI1711) and control object steel ball. It is a typical magnetized levitation system. The system can be divided into two parts, MLS main body, control platform with data acquisition card and PC.

It has following characteristics. 1. When the current go through the winding and electromagnetic force F will be generated. 2. By controlling the current in the electromagnet winding to balance the steel ball gravity force mg by the magnetic force, the steel ball will levitate in the air. 3. Closed loop control is required for system stability and anti interference. 4. The distance x from the steel ball to electromagnet is detected by the sensor system composed of light source and light sensor. 5. In this experiment sensor is a core component and requires high precision and stability. 6. Control is applied vertically so a linear position sensor is needed. 7. Common modes of sensing depending upon precision and speed of the requirement are through laser, photo and ultrasonic. 8. When the vertical position of the steel ball changes, the translucent area of narrow slit also changes. The exposure of the silicon solar cell will change accordingly and the displacement is converted to a change in current which is further converted to voltage. 9. Interfering light may disturb the sensor results, so the solar cell is covered with a seal here and almost parallel LED light with 6 degrees of deviation is used here. 10. The weak signal from the sensor needs amplifying and conditioning before forwarding.

MLS body consist of 1. Solenoid 2. Position Sensor 3. Driver 4. LED 5. Digital controller 6. Control object

1. Photoelectric Position Sensor (Non Contact type). 2. Photo sensors. 3. Ultrasonic sensors.

There are two ways to control by 1. Analog control unit 2. Digital control unit

A bearing is a device to allow constrained relative motion between two or more parts, typically rotation or linear movement. Bearings may be classified broadly according to the motions they allow and according to their principle of operation as well as by the directions of applied loads they can handle. A magnetic bearing is a bearing which supports a load using magnetic levitation. Magnetic bearings support moving machinery without physical contact, for example, they can levitate a rotating shaft and permit relative motion with very low friction and no mechanical wear. They are in service in such industrial applications as electric power generation, petroleum refining, machine tool operation and natural gas pipelines.

That suspends, propels and guides the vehicles mainly trains using magnetic levitation from a very large number of magnets for lifting and propulsion. The system proves to be faster smoother, quieter than the wheeled mass transit systems. The technology has the potential to exceed 6,400 km/h (4,000 mi/h) if deployed in an evacuated tunnel. If not deployed in an evacuated tube the power needed for levitation is usually not a particularly large percentage and most of the power needed is used to overcome air drag, as

with any other high speed train. The highest recorded speed of a maglev train is 581 kilometers per hour (361 mph), achieved in Japan in 2004. This is slower than many aircraft, since aircraft can fly at far higher altitudes where air drag is lower, thus high speeds are more readily attained.