A Linear Synchronous Motor for a high-speed, ground transportation vehicle includes a linear extended guideway stator assembly containing two extended symmetrical three-phase stator windings supported on the guideway and a rotor installed on the vehicle chassis and having an even number of identical units. When the winding is powered by three-phase sinusoidal current of constant frequency, the traveling wave of the sinusoidal current arises and runs along the stator. By varying the length of the turns of the stator windings, the velocity of the traveling wave is variable on different sections of the guideway, which include acceleration section, constant velocity section and deceleration section. Each of the rotor units includes vertically magnetized permanent magnets and two "C"-shaped steel cores which close the magnetic lines through two parallel air gaps. The permanent magnets move downward and upward within the "C"-shaped steel cores. The turns of the stator windings pass through the air gaps in the rotor units, so that the traveling wave interacts with the magnetic field in the air gaps and creates the Lorenz force propelling the vehicle. Two synchronizing devices are operatively associated with the rotor to coordinate the length of the turns of the stator windings with the length of the pole-pitch of the rotor. One of the synchronizing devices controls movement of the permanent magnets upward and downward with respect to the "C"-shaped steel cores to change the pole-pitch of the rotor step-wise, and another one moves the units of the rotor apart and together to change the pole-pitch of the rotor smoothly. As the result, the linear synchronous motor provides the vehicle motion with designated speed at any section of the guideway/stator.

A stator portion of a linear motor includes a U-phase coil portion (10U), a V-phase coil portion (10V), and a W-phase coil portion (10W) through which currents with phases different by 120 degrees from one another flow. Each coil portion has pairs of a first coil wound clockwise and a second coil wound counterclockwise. The pairs of coils adjoin to each other in the moving direction and are connected in series and arrayed in the moving direction. When the extension length from the first coil to the second coil is 360 degrees, the V-phase coil portion overlaps with and is shifted from the U-phase coil portion by 120 degrees, and the W-phase coil portion overlaps with and is shifted from the V-phase coil portion by 120 degrees with respect to the moving direction. A magnet portion (30) is movably combined with the U-phase, V-phase, and W-phase coil portions. The length of the magnet portion in the moving direction is less than a half of the wavelength of the magnetic flux generated with the coils. On a movable portion, a Hall element (40) is mounted at the position away from the center of the magnet portion by an integral multiple of a half of the wavelength of the magnetic flux generated with the coils. Depending on the output from the Hall element, the amplitude or phase of the current fed to each coil portion is controlled.

An Electromagnetic Levitation Catapult for preliminary acceleration of a heavy individual payload includes a Magnetodynamic Levitation and Stabilizing Self-Regulating System providing stable flight of the payload along a pre-determined trajectory, a rotor with changeable size of the pole pitch, a stator extended along the trajectory of flight and a synchronizing mechanism. The stator is divided into three distinct sections: a start section where the winding turns have the same length, an acceleration section where the length of the turns increases in the direction from the start section, and a deceleration section. The payload is supported by a chassis carrying the rotor, so that when the rotor engages the stator, a propulsion force is created and propulses the payload along the trajectory. The rotor includes immovable long magnets and short magnets capable of being moved in the vertical direction. The synchronizing mechanism co-ordinates the pole pitch of the rotor with the turn length of the stator winding. Once the payload has approached the acceleration section, the synchronizing mechanism "feels" increment in the turns length and moves the short magnets downward in order to increase the size of the pole pitch and to increase the propulsion force accelerating the payload to the required speed.

A propulsion system for a magnetically levitated vehicle is described. The propulsion system includes a drive and/or suspension magnet arrangement mounted in the vehicle, its drive magnets and/or suspension magnets being arranged with their magnetic axes that connect the two magnet poles running across the longitudinal direction of the guideway so that the magnet poles arranged in succession in this longitudinal direction have the same polarity.

Apparatus, systems and methods for levitating and moving objects are shown and described herein. The embodiments incorporate a track with lower rails having permanent magnets abutted against each other and aligned such that the upper surface of each of the lower rails has a uniform polarity; and the object with upper rails having permanent magnets aligned with the lower rails and oriented to oppose the polarity of the lower permanent magnets. Ferrous backing plates behind the lower rails and/or the upper rails may be incorporated. Embodiments may also incorporate a third rail of an electroconductive material, and a driving disc positioned near the third rail. Permanent magnets in the driving disc may be rotated with the driving disc in the presence of the third rail to accelerate the upper rails with respects to the lower rails.