A NEW ELECTRIC MAGNETIC-GEARED MACHINE FOR

ELECTRIC UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES

Seminar Report
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of
Bachlor of Technology Degree in
Electrical and Electronics Engineering of
the University of Kerala

Submitted by
K B ANANDU
B.Tech
EEE
University Register No:14400055

Department Of Electrical Engineering

College Of Engineering Trivandrum
Thiruvananthapuram-16
2017
 DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING TRIVANDRUM
2017

CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that this report entitled “A New Electric Magnetic-Geared Machine
For Electric Unmanned Aerial Vehicles ” is a bonafide record of the Seminar work
done by K B Anandu, of 7th semster B.Tech under our guidance towards the partial
fulfillment of the requirements for the award of B.Tech Degree in Electrical and
Electronics Engineering of the University of Kerala during the year 2017.

Prof. Shenil P.S Dr. Bisharathu Beevi

Professor Professor
Department of Electrical Engineering Department of Electrical Engineering
College of Engineering Trivandrum College of Engineering Trivandrum

Dr. S.Ushakumari Dr. J.Savier Head

of the Department UG Co-ordinator
Department of Electrical Engineering Department of Electrical Engineering
College of Engineering Trivandrum College of Engineering Trivandrum
 Acknowledgment
I express my thanks to Prof. Shenil P.S,professor, Department of Electrical En-
gineering, College of Engineering Trivandrum, for all necessary help and advise
extended to me.

I express my gratitude to Dr. S.Ushakumari , Head of the Department,Department of

Electrical Engineering, for his whole hearted cooperation and encouragement.

I express my gratitude to Dr. J.Savier, UG coordinator, Department of Electri- cal

Engineering, College of Engineering, Trivandrum, for all necessary help extended to me
in doing the thesis work.

I have great pleasure in expressing my gratitude and obligations to Dr. Bisharathu

Beevi, Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering, College of Engineering,
Trivandrum, for her valuable guidance, and suggestions to make this work a great
success.

I also acknowledge my gratitude to other members of faculty in the Department of

Electrical Engineering,my family and friends for their whole hearted cooperation and
encouragement. Above all, I thank GOD Almighty, without whose help, I
wouldn’t have reached this far.

CET. K B Anandu
 ABSTRACT

Unmanned aerial vehicle are mainly of two types depending on the propulsion
system- electric and mechanical. Mechanical propulsion system uses engines which are
bulky and most of that kind uses nonrenewable energy resources. Electric propul- sion
system uses electric drive system and uses electric energy for driving. In this theses
work we are dealing with Electric unmanned aerial vehicles. Electric un- manned
aerial vehicles usually use mechanical gear system for propulsion.Mechanical gears are
noisy, have high wear and tear rate, so for complicated tasks like forest fire detection,
rescue and search mission mechanical gears are not the best option. This thesis
introduces the proposal of new electric magnetic-geared (EMG) machine from IEEE
transactions. It artfully incorporates the magnetic gear into an outer rotor inserted-
PM machine, purposely for electric unmanned aerial vehicle (e-UAV) appli- cation. The
proposed EMG machine artfully shares the sandwiched-rotor for both the PM machine
and the magnetic gear. Compared to mechanical gears, magnetic gears possess the
definite merits of minimum acoustic noise, no frictional loss, inher- ent overload
protection, free from maintenance, and high reliability. The proposed machine can run in
the high speed and high power for propelling the e-UAV. The electric UAV (e-UAV)
employs the electric machine drive as the major power source, which has attractive
applications in aviation industry due to distinct merits of high efficiency, high reliability,
full-electricity, flexible controllability, and low pollution. The e-UAV configuration
with the proposed machine and the theoretical analysis of the machine topology, the
design details, operation principles, static characteristics, and machine performances, as
well as the propulsion performances of the proposed machine, are elaborated and
discussed.
Contents

1 INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 Literature Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Objective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.3 Organisation of thesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

2 MAGNETIC GEAR 3
2.1 Basic Working Principle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.2 Magnetic Gear and Torque Relations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

3 COAXIAL MAGNETIC GEAR 6

4 MACHINE DESIGN AND OPERATION PRINCIPLE 8

5 SYSTEM CONFIGURATION OF E-UAV 10

5.1 The Key Features of The New EMG Machines . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

6 PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS 14
6.1 Machine Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
6.2 Machine Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
6.3 E-UAV Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

7 CONCLUSION 18

References 18

Bibliography 19
List of Figures

2.1 Basic magnetic gear and mechanical gear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

2.2 Torque Angle Curve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

3.1 Coaxial Magnetic Gear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

4.1 Air gap and torque generation when fixed plates are inserted between
stator and rotor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

5.1 Proposed e-UAV system with new EMG motors . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

5.2 Flux patterns of proposed machine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
5.3 Theoretical Waveform of BLAC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

6.1 Magnetic Flux Distribution Of the proposed system . . . . . . . . . . 16

Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Literature Review

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles are developed for complicated andtough missions like
data acquisition,forest firedetection,rescue and search mission. Electric UAV (e-
UAV),employs the electric machine drive as the major power source. Brushed and
Brushless machines are basically suitable actuators for e-UAVs. For high speed ap-
plication of UAV we require special gears. Special mechanical gears are a promising
strategy for high speed operation.Here a new concept of magnetic gear is introduced
instead of mechanical gear to present a new topology of electricmagnetic-geared
(EMG) machine, which is suitable for highspeede-UAV propulsion.

1.2 Objective
A new concept of magnetic gear is introduced instead of mechanical gear to present a
new topology of electricmagnetic-geared (EMG) machine, which is suitable for
highspeede-UAV propulsion.Concept of magnetic gear enjoys the distinct merit of
non-physical contact,it possess the definite merits of minimum acoustic noise, no
frictional loss, inherent overload protection, free from maintenance, and high reli-
ability. By integrating the electric machine with the magnetic gear, a new type

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A New Electric Magnetic-Geared Machine For Electric Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

of machines socalled as the magnetic-geared machines, are proposed for lowspeed

applications. In particular, these machines are highly favorable for wind power gen-
eration and electric vehicle propulsion

1.3 Organisation of thesis

Thesis report is organised into 7 chapters. Chapter
1 gives brief overview about the thesis.
Chapter 2 deals with the concept behind magnetic gear.
Chapter 3 deals with the coaxial magnetic gear.
Chapter 4 gives the idea of machine design and operation principle.
Chapter 5 gives the idea of system configuration of E-UAV.
Chapter 6 shows the performance analysis on the proposed system .
Chapter 7 gives conclusions .

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Chapter 2

MAGNETIC GEAR

2.1 Basic Working Principle

Figure 2.1: Basic magnetic gear and mechanical gear

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 The traditional mechanical gear uses steel teeths to transfer torque. Gear wheel teeth
have physically contact with each other, and there will be wearing on the tooth

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A New Electric Magnetic-Geared Machine For Electric Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

flanges.Magnetic gear is agear that transfer torque from one shaft to another by the use of
magnets or magnetic fields. The magnetic gear does not have the same wear, because
there is no direct contact.The working is simple with the magnetic poles
”pulling” the poles present in the other rotor. Each rotor is made up of permanent
magnets with a radial field. Permanent magnets on the gearing wheels transfer the torque
between the two wheels Since the magnetic gear does not have direct contact, there will
be a fictive torsion spring effect between gear wheels The torsion spring effect can be
explained by imaging one wheel fixed and the other wheel is rotated a small angle. Then
there will be a certain torque interaction between the gear wheels depending on angle
displacement of the second wheel
The torsion spring phenomenon is similar to the well known torque angle char-
acteristic effect in synchronous machines.

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A New Electric Magnetic-Geared Machine For Electric Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Figure 2.2: Torque Angle Curve

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A New Electric Magnetic-Geared Machine For Electric Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

2.2 Magnetic Gear and Torque Relations

Most gear systems have a gearing relationship G which is greater than one, which
corresponds to high revolutions on the input shaft and low revolutions on the output
shaft.
The high-to-low speed gear ratio
Npole2
Gr = (2.1)
N pole1

Coming to the case of torque, torque density is one of a performance criterion

used in the electrical machines,where a torque per unit rotor volume or torque per total
unit volume is given.A gear with permanent magnets has a certain amount of rotor
volume and this volume versus the maximum transferred torque is defined as the active
torque density.
T
ρ= (2.2)
V

Here ’T’ is the torque and ’V’ is the rotor volume.

The active torque density is suitable for comparing different types of magnetic gears with
each other

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Chapter 3

COAXIAL MAGNETIC GEAR

The mechanical gear has a high torque density, but suffers from some inherent
problems such as contact friction, noise,and heat, while vibration and reliability are of
great concern. The magnetic gear (MG) offers advantages of reduced vibration and
noise, free maintenance, better reliability, inherent overload protection, and non contact
between shafts. For many years MGs have got relatively little attention, probably
due to the low torque density and relative magnetic complexity.
In 2001, Atallah and Howe proposed a high-performance MG named as the coax- ial
magnetic gear (CMG), whose principle of operation was based on the magnetic
modulation produced by two PM rotors via the ferromagnetic pieces. The CMG has a
higher torque density, because all the PMs simultaneously contribute to torque
transmission. The CMG can be artfully integrated with a high-speed outer-rotor
PM brushless machine to constitute a composite electrical machine named as the
magnetic-geared permanent-magnet (MGPM) machine, which can achieve low-speed
high-torque driving while providing high torque density

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A New Electric Magnetic-Geared Machine For Electric Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Figure 3.1: Coaxial Magnetic Gear

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Chapter 4

MACHINE DESIGN AND

OPERATION PRINCIPLE

The proposed EMG machine, which incorporates a PM machine with a coaxial mag-
netic gear. The proposed machine artfully shares the sandwiched-rotor for both the
magnetic gear and the electric machine. The electric machine adopts the outer-rotor
topology, i.e., the PM is inserted in the rotor with the circumferential magnetiza-
tion and the armature winding is located in the stator. Meanwhile, the magnetic
gear adopts a regular coaxial design. Hence, the proposed topology can fully utilize the
machine space to increase the power density significantly for e-UAV propulsion. Since
the proposed EMG machine is derived from the magnetic-geared machine, the number of
pole-pairs in the space harmonics of the flux density distribution can be described as
follow
pi = |Npo + kNs| (4.1)

npo
ωi = ωo (4.2)
|Npo + kNs|

where n=1,2,3,...,∞k = −∞, ..., −1, 0, 1, ..., ∞

Ns is the number of modulation ring iron segments pi andpo are the inner and outer
rotor pole pairs and ωi and ωo are inner and outer rotor speed.

np ∗ nω = pin ∗ ωin + pout ∗ ωout (4.3)

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The torque developed for propulsion depends upon torque produced by gear, the inner
and outer torque to be produced be produced by gear can be obtained using Maxwell
stress tensor in the inner air gap and outer rotor, respectively

Figure 4.1: Air gap and torque generation when fixed plates are inserted between
stator and rotor
Z 2Π
Lef R2in
Tin = BrinBΘindΘ (4.4)
µ0 0

Equation 4.4 is the torque equation, where Lef is the effective axial length, Brin is radial
flux density in inner air gap,µ0 is the permeability in air Rin is radius of inner air gap and
Bin is tangential flux density in inner air gap.

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Chapter 5

SYSTEM CONFIGURATION OF E-
UAV

The proposed system consists of the control center, power converter, energy storage, and
the proposed EMG machines. The control center is the core of the e-UAV, while
it has the responsibility for data collection, route control, task execution and
management, and emergency treatment. In addition, the control center manages the
normal operation of power converter, energy storage, and the machine drives.
Meanwhile, the energy storage such as the battery can provide the power to the EMG
machines via the power converter. The power converter obeys the instructions from the
control center, in order to control the machine drives and the energy distribution. The
EMG machines are installed in both wings to drive the propellers and to provide the
driving powers for the e-UAV
The proposed e-UAV adopts the high-speed direct-drive propulsion system, so
that the merits of direct-drive and precise control can be achieved. It should also be
noted that he inherent direct-drive feature retains the propulsion system free from
maintenance, wears and tears, such that the efficiency and reliability of the e-UAV
propulsion system can be improved significantly.

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Figure 5.1: Proposed e-UAV system with new EMG motors

Furthermore, the electric machines offer the advantage of lighter weight and
higher power density, as compared with the combustion engine counterparts

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5.1 The Key Features of The New EMG Machines

The key features of the proposed e-UAV system can be summarized as follow:

• With the full-electricity configuration, the proposed system is very compact

and robust.
• The high-speed direct-drive propulsion system has the merit of simple and
direction configuration, which is capable for the reliable and precise control of the
machine drives.

• The proposed electric propulsion configuration provides the high-power mass ratio,
which vastly improves the loading capability of the e-UAV system
• Although the magnetic-geared machine is usually used for low-speed high-
torque occasions, it still has the big potential for high-speed applications. The key
of design is to reasonably arrange PM poles and iron steels so that the iron
loss and magnet loss are acceptable for high-speed operation

• Comparing to the combustion engine, the electric machines offer the advantage of
higher fuel efficiency and lower acoustic noise.
• The proposed EMG machines offer high flexible controllability, such that the e-
UAV can enjoy better faulttolerant capability
• The machine drives can be controlled independently so that the total power
can be regulated flexibly.

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Figure 5.2: Flux patterns of proposed machine

Figure 5.3: Theoretical Waveform of BLAC

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Chapter 6

PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS

The FEM-based design optimization strategy is adopted in the machine design and
analysis, and it is performed by the commercial software, the JMAG-Designer. The basic
characteristics of the proposed EMG machine can be addressed with the help of
electromagnetic analysis, while the machine performances are presented and an- alyzed.
Consequently, the proposed characteristics of the EMG machine can be verified.

6.1 Machine Characteristics

The key design parameters of the proposed EMG machine are shown in Table. The
diameter of the proposed machine core is 220mm, while for some other special ap-
plications, the EMG machine can be designed with larger sizes. Hence, the higher power
output can be achieved. The magnetic field distribution of the proposed EMG machine is
presented in Figure. It can be found that the flux lines are in symmetrical pattern. The
corresponding airgap flux density versus the rotor position is given in Figure. It can be
seen that the middle airgap consists of the highest flux density. It should be noted
that all three airgap densities fulfill the design requirement of density with 1 T. As
expected, the flux-linkage illustrates the bipolar patterns, such that the proposed EMG
machine can produce higher power density than its unipo- lar counterpart does. In
addition, the rms values of the no-load EMF under various inner rotor speeds. The
results show the output voltages are directly proportional

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Number of phases 3
Outer radius of outer rotor 110
Inner radius of outer rotor 93.8 mm
Outer radius of inner rotor 78.6 mm
Inner radius of inner rotor 64.6 mm
Airgap length 0.6 mm
Stack length 80 mm
Rated gear inner-rotor speed 1000 rpm
Rated gear outer-rotor speed 8000 rpm
Number of outer-PM pole-pairs 3
Number of inner-PM pole-pairs 24
Number of modulation ring irons 27
Number of stator slots 18

Table 6.1: Parameters of the proposed system

to the operating speed. In particular, the output voltages vary from 750 V to 1800
V, in corresponding to the inner rotor speed from 600 rpm to 1400 rpm.

6.2 Machine Performance

The machine performance is mainly the torque features, which is used to evaluate the
driving performance for e-UAVs. First, the cogging torque is evaluated . The
evaluation is just derived from the inside PM machine, whereas the outer rotor
and the modulation ring of the gear are kept stationary. In this way, it can reflect the
damping nature of the proposed machine. It can be seen that the cogging torque
is significantly small due to the multipole PM design of the inner rotor. Also, it
indicates that after the PM machine integrates with the magnetic gear, the torque
ripple would be small. Second, the torque-angle relationship for the inner rotor and
the outer rotor is given, and the result can give information of the torque transmission
capability of the magnetic gear. When the outer rotor is kept

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A New Electric Magnetic-Geared Machine For Electric Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Figure 6.1: Magnetic Flux Distribution Of the proposed system

at standstill, the inner rotor is rotated step by step under the rated conditions.
Then, the corresponding torque-angle curve of the inner rotor can be obtained.
Similarly, the torque-angle curve of the outer rotor can be calculated based on the same
methodology. It can be found that the torque-angle curves are quite sinusoidal, and the
maximum torque values denote the pull-out torques. To bespecific, the pull- out torques
of the inner rotor and the outer rotor are 248 Nm and 48Nm, respectively.

6.3 E-UAV Performance

When two proposed EMG machines are installed in the side wings of e-UAV, both of
the machines can provide satisfactory power to drive the propellers. The key
machine performances for the e-UAV application are listed in Table. It can be
found that the EMG machine can provide the output power of 35.2 kW under the rated
conditions. As a result, two machine drives can provide the power up to 70 kW and this
power level is fairly high for the e-UAV. In addition, the proposed motor has the power
factor of 0.88, which is smaller than that of 0.97. Since the proposed

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Cogging torque in inner rotor 0.025 Nm

Average torque in inner rotor 236 Nm
Average torque in outer rotor 42 Nm
Power of the inner/outer rotor 35.2 kW
Total Power of the e-UAV 70.4 kW

Table 6.2: Machine Performances For E-UAV Application

motors are used for e-UAV, the power converter normally has the large redundancy due
to the high requirement of reliability. So, the power factor is high enough for e-UAV
application. The results show that each of the machine drives can provide different
output powers under various control strategies. If one of the two machines undergoes
any fault conditions, the e-UAV can still achieve the power of 52.8 kW to sustain the
normal operation. Therefore, it can be expected the proposed system can increase the
reliability and safety for the e-UAV applications.

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Chapter 7

CONCLUSION

A new direct-drive EMG machine is introduced which integrates the inserted-PM

machine with the magnetic gear together based on the coaxial structure. This ma- chine
artfully integrates the inserted-PM machine with the magnetic gear together based on
the coaxial structure. Moreover, the proposed machine is proposed for eUAV
propulsion.As the concept of magnetic gear is introduced the system is less noisy,less
wear,light weight etc. Thus the EMG machine proposed is a very promis- ing candidate
for tough e-UAV applications. The e-UAV configuration, the machine design details,
the machine operating principle and the machine performances are elaborated and
discussed.

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References
[1]E. Fresk, G. Nikolakopoulos, and T. Gustafsson, ”A generalized reduced-complexity
inertial navigation system for unmanned aerial vehicles,” IEEE Trans. Control Syst.
Technol Jan.2017.
[2] K. Atallah, S.D. Calverley, and D. Howe, Design, analysis and realisation of
a high-performance magnetic gear, IEE Electr. Power Appl. Mar. 2004
[3] L. Jian, K. T. Chau, Y. Gong, J. Z. Jiang, C. Yu, and W. Li, Comparison of
coaxial magnetic gears with different topologies, IEEE Tran oct 2009.
[4] K. T. Chau, D. Zhang, J. Z. Jiang, C. Liu, and Y. Zhang, Design of a magnetic-
geared outer-rotor permanent-magnet brushless machine for electric vehicles, IEEE Tran.
Magn.Jul. 2007.
[5]A. Chamseddine, O. Akhrif, G. Charland-Arcand, F. Gagnon, and D. Couillard,
Communication relay for multiground units with unmanned aerial vehicle using only
signal strength and angle of arrival, IEEE Trans Jan. 2017
[6]P. M. Tlali, S. Gerber and R. J. Wang, Optimal design of an outerstator magnet- ically
geared permanent magnet machine, IEEE Tran. Magn Feb. 2016.
[7]A. Penzkofer and K.Atallah, Scaling of pseudo direct drives for wind turbine ap-
plication, IEEE Tran. Magn. Feb. 2016.
[8]M.E. Antonio-Toledo, E.N. Sanchez, and A.Y. Alanis, Robust neural decentral-
ized control for a quadrotor UAV, Proc. Int. Joint Conf. Neural Networks, Nov.
2016

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Bibliography

[1]http://www.magnomatics.com

[2]http://www.researchgate.net

[3]http://www.machinedesign.com

[4]http://www.comsol.com

[5]http://www.greencarcongress.com

[6]http://www.intechopen.com

[7]http://www.amp.ams.eng.osaka-u.ac.jp

[8]https://www.e-education.psu.edu

[9]http://www.flightjournal.com

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