Linear motor, design

A major problem is the design of a propulsion system for a vehicle that has no contact with a guideway. The only reasonable choice is a linear motor that uses magnetic fields to propel the vehicle. The development of a linear motor and its control system is at least as formidable a challenge as the development of a maglev suspension system. 

Design of a photochemically-driven linear motor can be brought about by use of a rotaxane in which the ring component can be moved between different stations by means of light absorption (Figure 12.18). 

Several standing-wave ultrasonic motors (SWUMs), have been designed at Cedrat [68] (Figs. 6.48 and 6.49). A linear motor is a self-moving silicon plate including magnetostrictive film. It is submitted to a 10 mT dynamic field produced by an external coil, which may be placed at some centimeters distance... 

The energy within a hydraulic system is of no value until it is converted into work. Typically, this is accomplished by using an actuating device of some type. This actuating device may be a cylinder, which converts the hydraulic energy into linear mechanical force a hydraulic motor, that converts energy into rotational force or a variety of other actuators designed to provide specific work functions. 

So far, several example of the chemically and electrochemically controlled switching of bistable linear molecular machines have been presented. The final section of this chapter will be dedicated to illustrating how such molecular switches and motors, when designed ingenuously, can also be powered by nature s most abundant and powerful energy source - light. 

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