A propulsion system, comprising: one or more roaming vehicles comprising a reaction plate installed on a bottom of each of the one or more roaming vehicles; wherein the reaction plate comprises a non-ferrous conductor; a surface stator matrix installed with a running surface for the one or more roaming vehicles and comprising a plurality of single sided linear induction motors (SSLIMs), wherein each of at least a portion of the plurality of single sided linear induction motors include two windings (25, 26) installed orthogonally to one another, the two windings (25, 26) being individually energisable to generate magnetic fields that provide a first force in a first direction and a second force in a second coplanar direction as the reaction plate of each of the one or more roaming vehicles passes through the magnetic fields, thereby producing a force vector in any direction across the surface stator matrix on the one or more roaming vehicles; a plurality of motor drives configured to electrically couple to the plurality of single sided linear induction motors via a switching panel; a control system configured to: receive information related to the one or more roaming vehicles; receive a desired motion profile for the one or more roaming vehicles across the surface stator matrix; determine which of the plurality of single sided linear induction motors to activate and, for each activated single sided linear induction motor, adjust the current supplied to the windings based on the desired motion profile, the information, or some combination thereof; and send control signals to the plurality of motor drives to control the plurality of single sided linear induction motors to generate force vectors to produce the desired motion profile, wherein the motor drives control the plurality of single sided linear induction motors to produce the motion profile by activating a subset of the plurality of single sided linear induction motors underneath the reaction plate in time to generate a force vector in the reaction plate that causes the one or more roaming vehicles to follow a path specified by the desired motion profile as the one or more roaming vehicles traverse the running surface. one or more roaming vehicles comprising a reaction plate installed on a bottom of each of the one or more roaming vehicles; wherein the reaction plate comprises a non-ferrous conductor; a surface stator matrix installed with a running surface for the one or more roaming vehicles and comprising a plurality of single sided linear induction motors (SSLIMs), wherein each of at least a portion of the plurality of single sided linear induction motors include two windings (25, 26) installed orthogonally to one another, the two windings (25, 26) being individually energisable to generate magnetic fields that provide a first force in a first direction and a second force in a second coplanar direction as the reaction plate of each of the one or more roaming vehicles passes through the magnetic fields, thereby producing a force vector in any direction across the surface stator matrix on the one or more roaming vehicles; a plurality of motor drives configured to electrically couple to the plurality of single sided linear induction motors via a switching panel; a control system configured to: receive information related to the one or more roaming vehicles; receive a desired motion profile for the one or more roaming vehicles across the surface stator matrix; determine which of the plurality of single sided linear induction motors to activate and, for each activated single sided linear induction motor, adjust the current supplied to the windings based on the desired motion profile, the information, or some combination thereof; and send control signals to the plurality of motor drives to control the plurality of single sided linear induction motors to generate force vectors to produce the desired motion profile, wherein the motor drives control the plurality of single sided linear induction motors to produce the motion profile by activating a subset of the plurality of single sided linear induction motors underneath the reaction plate in time to generate a force vector in the reaction plate that causes the one or more roaming vehicles to follow a path specified by the desired motion profile as the one or more roaming vehicles traverse the running surface. receive information related to the one or more roaming vehicles; receive a desired motion profile for the one or more roaming vehicles across the surface stator matrix; determine which of the plurality of single sided linear induction motors to activate and, for each activated single sided linear induction motor, adjust the current supplied to the windings based on the desired motion profile, the information, or some combination thereof; and send control signals to the plurality of motor drives to control the plurality of single sided linear induction motors to generate force vectors to produce the desired motion profile, wherein the motor drives control the plurality of single sided linear induction motors to produce the motion profile by activating a subset of the plurality of single sided linear induction motors underneath the reaction plate in time to generate a force vector in the reaction plate that causes the one or more roaming vehicles to follow a path specified by the desired motion profile as the one or more roaming vehicles traverse the running surface.