Development of an electromagnet excited mass-pendulum system modeling and control laboratory experiment — Theory and test

An electromagnet excited mass-pendulum system with attached spring and damper elements is introduced as a senior and graduate level engineering laboratory experiment. This laboratory offers mechanical, electrical, and control engineering challenges to the students. The derivation of the coupled equations of motion is developed using both Newtonian and Lagrangian approaches. The system is pendulum actuated by a powerful electromagnet for which the magnetic force is modeled by a magnetostatic forcing function. Representative numerical and experimental results are presented which validate the mathematical model. Further, the bench top experiment offers hands-on opportunities for the students. The numerical results agree within 2% to 20% of the experiments.