Consequent pole flux modulated linear actuator under winding chang and field oriented control driving conditions for long track and multi-track agricultural robot

The electromagnetic performance improvement of a double saliency (DS) flux modulated (FM)- permanent magnet linear synchronous motors (PMLSM) for agricultural robots is proposed in this work by minimizing the effect of cross-coupling. To understand the effect of the cross-coupling on the electromagnetic performance, a dq axes model of the DS FM-PMLSM is developed and analyzed under different driving conditions. Based on the result obtained, winding modification schemes are proposed to minimize the thrust ripple and improve the zero torque control. The modified models are studied using finite element analysis (FEA) and the model with the best performance is selected for prototyping. The prototype is then tested and the results are validated against the electromagnetic performance obtained using the FEA. This research targeted the development of a low-cost linear actuator for a sapling grower gantry robot that can be used by farmers around the world.