Indirect Vector Control of a Redundant Linear Induction Motor for Aircraft Launch A control algorithm that tolerates partial equipment failure of a launch system for U.S. Navy aircraft carriers has been developed and tested.

The potential for high force and low inertia makes the long stator linear induction motor a good candidate for use in aircraft launch. These motors typically have a segmented stator that runs the entire length of travel. A conductive plate is used as the moving shuttle. If high reliability is desired, one approach is to drive shuttle plate using multiple, separately excited stators. Although the stators are separately excited, they are still coupled via mutual inductance and common current paths in the shuttle plate. This paper considers the development of an indirect vector control scheme that accom- modates the cross-coupling between stators and allows res- ponsive control of the total force on the shuttle in the presence of faulted stators.