Magnetic Levitation Control Loop (2D)

The 3D version of this simulation renders levitating shapes with stat cards labelled "Stability" and "Power" that don't respond to any underlying physics — they're just slider values echoed back as percentages. This 2D companion builds the real mechanic the title promises instead: a single steel ball hangs below an electromagnet, held up purely by an electronically controlled current obeying F = k·I²/x², the standard inverse-square attraction law used to model real maglev actuators. Because that system is open-loop unstable — a ball that drifts closer gets pulled in harder, and one that drifts farther gets pulled in less — a PID controller measures the gap every tick and adjusts the coil current to cancel the error. Turn up Interference and the controller has to fight sensor noise and random gusts to stay stable; turn Kd too low and the loop starts to ring or drops the ball outright, exactly as a real under-damped control loop would.