An electrostatic doubly-salient motor

An electrostatic motor, analogous to a switched reluctance motor, has been developed for use in high vacuum, to accelerate and brake the rotor of a vacuum gauge. The motor performs well and reliably, and the vacuum gauge is much better for its adoption. The efficiency of the combined motor-plus-drive is negligibly small, but the important thing is that almost all the losses are in the drive system, and thus outside the vacuum chamber, where (on this scale) they are of no significance. Some aspects of its behaviour are still not entirely understood, but points that could lead to a better performance on any future design have been noted