As part of an independent study arrangement my senior year of high school, I built a PID controlled magnetic levitation system on Arduino. Inspired by my earlier brainstorming, this project allowed me to delve into both electronics and controls. This fall (freshman year), I made a custom PCB to simplify wiring.
Levitated neodymium magnets in Arduino personal project
Obtained position data from IR tracking camera over I2C
Controlled duty cycle of upper electromagnet via PWM
Adjusted electromagnet signal using PID algorithm
Created custom PCB in “shield” form-factor
Future plans: tune PID constants for stability; implement user-controlled vertical motion
An early experiment where I measured the air gap at various duty ratios of the electromagnet, using a highlighter cap to maintain stability.