MagnetoShield: Prototype of a Low-Cost Magnetic Levitation Device for Control Education

This article presents a prototype reference design for a low-cost miniature magnetic levitation experiment. The proposed device is built as an Arduino expansion module, thus may be installed on a broad range of microcontroller prototyping boards. The open-source hardware design uses off-the-shelf and widely available components and 3D printing technology, thus its overall material cost is minimal. This way, the magnetic levitation experiment is transformed into a pocket laboratory that can be borrowed by students for take-home experiments. In addition to the device itself, we present an open-source application programming interface and the outline of classroom examples in modeling, system identification and closed-loop control.