Modelling and Control of a Dual Sided Linear Induction Motor for a scaled Hyperloop Pod

Abstract: The electrification era has been marked up by an increase in volume of electric vehicles which are directly or indirectly powered by electricity. Railways, roadways and airways are being electrified as we speak at their own respective rate. In addition to that upcoming concepts for transport solution such as hyperloop also described as the fifth mode of transportation will be electrified. The current thesis work is based on developing the model and control of the propulsion system of a scaled Hyperloop pod designed by student team KTH Hyperloop representing KTH. The team competes in Hyperloop competition organized by Spacex and the goal is to achieve the highest possible speed in a given distance and track designed by SpaceX. In order to achieve the goal of being the fastest, the scaled pod uses a Double Sided Linear Induction Motor (DSLIM) as mentioned in the subsequent chapter. The motor modelling is done on Simulink and is similar to a rotary induction motor (RIM). However the presence of end effect in DSLIM makes it different from RIM and has been discussed subsequently. The control strategy uses a synchronous frame PI control for the current control and sensor based speed control for controlling the speed of the pod.The speed control output is a reference current which is used as an input to the current controller which finally gives voltage as the control output. The corresponding bandwidth for the various loops have been calculated based on motor parameters as discussed in the method section. The validation of the motor model and the corresponding controller has been discussed in the result section, where the accuracy of the controller for the designed modelled is discussed.