A Magnetically Suspended Rotating Wheel For Minature Gyro

Bearing supported rotating elements (or wheels) are widely used in modern technology, in particular, in BMDO applications using devices such as gyroscopes and reaction/momentum wheels for measurement and control of booster and interceptor flight path and satellite orientation, and in widely used commercial items such as data storage disk drives. Ball bearings and gas bearings currently used for such applications have problems limiting performance and reliability. Magnetic bearings have the potential to provide much improved characteristics. In a NASA sponsored Phase I SBIR, Milli Sensor Systems & Actuators, Inc., developed and applied for a patent on a unique magnetic actuator concept that should make possible affordable, small and reliable magnetically supported rotating wheels that, because they can be fabricated using planar technologies, should be affordable and reliable. While that work established the basic feasibility of the approach, a number of significant issues remain to be satisfactorily addressed before a proof of concept fabrication program can confidently proceed. The proposed work addresses each of these issues in turn and successful completion should result in magnetic actuator and drive motor designs that can provide the required functionality at low cost and with high reliability.