Sensing and control of a six-DOF maglev-based suspension prototype

Document #:

LIGO-T1300836-v1

Document type:

T - Technical notes

Abstract:

Seismic noise is one of the most important low-frequency disturbances that limit the sensitivity
of advanced gravitational-wave detectors. For isolation, the usual approach has been the
multiple-stage pendulum suspension; however an alternative seismic noise isolation scheme is
investigated. Magnetic levitation utilizes the symmetry and local extremum of the magnetic
force between disk magnets and by incorporating the sensing and feedback control system
can in principle achieve stable low-frequency isolation of six degrees of freedom. To test this
idea, a prototype has been built that successfully locks the setup.

Files in Document:

• maglev.pdf (5.9 MB)

Topics:

• Suspensions
• Basic R&D

Authors:

• Georgios Mamakoukas
• Haixing Miao
• Koji Arai
• Rana Adhikari

Keywords:

magnetic levitation suspension seismic sensing control