THEORETICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL-DESIGN OF LIM IN AUTOMATED MANUFACTURING SYSTEMS

A theoretical and experimental study was conducted to assess the feasibility of employing linear induction motors (LIM'S) for automated manufacturing systems as the drive for fully flexible material handling systems MHS's. The study was carried out in the Computer Integrated Manufacturing Laboratory of the College of Engineering and Engineering Technology at Northern Illinois University. Two doublesided linear induction motors with 17- and 9-A starting currents were designed and built to operate with two ac adjustable-frequency motor drives by Allen Bradley. The motors were intended for use as carts to transfer parts between the three cells in a physical simulator, which consists of a load/unload cell, a manufacturing cell, and a turning cell. Experience with the currently working model confirms that the use of LIM's shows substantial promise for achieving cost and productivity gains in a wide variety of manufacturing systems. The physical simulator is used to demonstrate the advantages of the LIM system over the existing MHS.