Active control system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11679640-B2
Application number	US-202217732266-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 28, 2022
Priority date	Jun 30, 2017
Publication date	Jun 20, 2023
Grant date	Jun 20, 2023

Abstract

An active control system for a mass traveling along a guideway and method for active control of a mass traveling along a guideway. The active control system includes at least one displacement sensor and at least one motion sensor. Signals from the at least one displacement sensor and the least one motion sensor are processed to adjust a displacement of a reference location on the mass from a fixed reference.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An active control system for a mass traveling along a guideway, comprising:
at least one displacement sensor measuring a displacement between a mass reference surface on the mass and a guideway reference surface on a guideway side;
at least one motion sensor;
at least one first filter comprising at least one of:
a low pass filter,
a notch filter, or
a combination of a low and high pass filter; and

at least one second filter comprising at least one of:
a high pass filter,
a resonator or
a bandpass filter,

wherein the at least one first filter is coupled to the at least one displacement sensor in a first branch to process signals from the at least one displacement sensor, and the at least one second filter is coupled to the at least one motion sensor in a second branch, which is in parallel to the first branch, to process signals from the at least one motion sensor, and
wherein signals from the first branch and signals from the second branch are processed to adjust a displacement of the mass reference surface from the guideway reference surface.

2. The active control system according to claim 1 , wherein a combined frequency spectrum of the at least one low pass filter and the at least one high pass filter is continuous.

3. The active control system according to claim 1 , wherein the first filter comprises a notch filter and the second filter comprises at least one bandpass filter.

4. The active control system according to claim 1 , wherein the first filter comprises a high pass filter and a low pass filter.

5. The active control system according to claim 1 , further comprising:
at least one integrator or derivative operator coupled to receive the filtered signals from the at least one motion sensor.

6. The active control system according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one displacement sensor comprises at least one of an accelerometer, a gyroscope or rate sensor.

7. The active control system according to claim 1 , wherein the mass comprises a vehicle having bearings for moving along the guideway.

8. The active control system according to claim 7 , wherein the vehicle comprises a pod, the guideway comprises a track, and wherein the pod is configured to be suspended from or travel over the track.

9. The active control system according to claim 1 , further comprising an integrator or a derivative operator arranged in the second branch to process the second filtered motion sensor signals to produce integrated filtered motion signals or derivative operated motion signals in the second branch.

10. The active control system according to claim 9 , further comprising a mixer arranged to process the signals from the first branch and signals from the second branch by superimposing signals output from the first branch with the signals output from the second branch.

11. A method for active control of a mass traveling along a guideway, comprising:
monitoring signals corresponding to a displacement of a mass reference surface on the mass with respect to a guideway reference surface on a guideway side;
monitoring signals corresponding to motion of the mass along the guideway;
processing the monitored displacement signals in at least one of a low pass filter, a notch filter or a combination of a low and high pass filter;
processing the monitored motion signals in at least one of a high pass filter, a resonator or a bandpass filter; and
controlling an actuator to adjust the displacement of the mass reference surface from the guideway reference surface according to the processed monitored displacement signals and the processed monitored motion signals.

12. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the processing comprises:
extracting relevant frequency content of the motion and displacement signals using filters comprising at least one of a band-pass, band-stop, notch, or resonator.

13. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the processing further comprises:
integrating, at least one time, the filtered signals from the at least one motion sensor.

14. The method according to claim 13 , wherein the processing further comprises:
superimposing the filtered displacement signals and the integrated filtered motion signals to produce a synthesized pseudo-displacement signal.

15. The method according to claim 14 , wherein the processing further comprises:
determining a difference between a predetermined reference displacement and the synthesized pseudo-displacement signal as a pseudo error signal.

16. The method according to claim 15 , wherein the controlling comprises:
controlling an actuator to adjust the displacement of the mass reference surface from the guideway reference surface based on the pseudo error signal.

17. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the guideway comprises a track and the mass comprises a vehicle with bearings configured for the vehicle to move over the track or to be suspended from the track.

Assignees

• Hyperloop Tech Inc

Inventors

• Usman Irfan-Ur-Rab

Classifications

• B60G2600/604

  low pass · CPC title

• B60G21/08

  characterised by use of gyroscopes (gyroscopes for stabilising vehicle bodies without controlling suspension arrangements B62D37/06) · CPC title

• B60G17/01933

  Velocity, e.g. relative velocity-displacement sensors · CPC title

• B60G17/01908

  Acceleration or inclination sensors (characterised by the use of gyroscopes B60G21/08) · CPC title

• B60G17/0164 Primary

  mainly during accelerating or braking · CPC title