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Actuators
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Published: 4 October 2025

Sensorless Control of Linear Motion in a Linear-Rotary Reluctance Actuator Integrated into an Electromagnetic Dog Clutch

Faculty of Engineering & Natural Sciences, Johannes Kepler University, 4040 Linz, Austria
Actuators2025, 14(10), 484;https://doi.org/10.3390/act14100484 
(registering DOI)
This article belongs to the Section Control Systems

Abstract

A reluctance actuator integrated into the double-sided dog clutch of a gearbox can significantly simplify the gear shifting system. However, its disadvantage is that an axial position sensor is required to shift the neutral gear. The sensor is placed in the aggressive environment of a gearbox and reduces the reliability of the entire system. Sensorless methods proposed in the literature deal with electrical machines or actuators with one degree of freedom (linear motion or rotation). In the dog clutch, the shift sleeve rotates and moves along its rotation axis simultaneously, moreover, the coil inductances are highly dependent not only on the axial position but also on the relative angular position between the shift sleeve teeth and the slots of its counterpart. This work proposes an original algorithm of sensorless control, which main novelty is the applicability for systems with two degrees of freedom, such as the considered actuator. The voltage induced in one of the coils and the prediction of the shift sleeve motion, which is based on the electromechanical model of the clutch, are used to control the currents. Not only an axial position sensor but also angular encoders are not required to apply the proposed method. The algorithm was tested both in simulations and experiments under different conditions. The results show that the proposed method allows to shift the neutral gear sensorless at different rotation speeds and different loads on the sleeve, regardless of what gearwheel is initially engaged.

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