Preliminary investigations on a diamagnetically levitated linear conveyor

Abstract

Diamagnetic levitation is the only passive levitation at room temperature. It is interesting to use this principle for a contactless conveyor in applications where friction and wear-particle contamination should be avoided such as in a microfactory. Using planar arrangements of permanent magnets, it is indeed possible to levitate a conveyor made of diamagnetic materials. In this article the authors are investigating the use of diamagnetic levitation in conjunction with various contact-less drive concepts to design a totally contact-free conveyor to carry small components in microfactories.