SMOT

[Light]

Here's two  SMOTs of mine.
Yes, they lift a ball, and after adjustment even it falls and rolls, but... as soon as a level of the beginning of movement correspond to a level where the ball falls, it does not roll, only remains, where has fallen. It is impossible to deceive a magnetic field...

[schriss]

can you make the ball to NOT fall horizontally? I mean (my bad english), put something there so the ball doesn't fall all the way down but rolls down and away, increasing it's velocity, encountering another smot on it's way?

[gn0stik]

Seems to me, with a few simple modifications the ball drop could be controlled, and more energy could be preserved off the end of the ramp. If you cut the track at a radius angle to allow a smooth transition off the end of the ramp, and cut a small clearance notch in the bottom of the track to allow for the ball passage, it should guide the ball off the ramp at a higher momentum, and allow you to control the transition.

Also, if you cut the ends of the bar magnets away from the track at the end, the magnetic flux would have a different orientation, and a strength gradient, that would help to guide the ball off the end of the ramp, instead of applying back force on it at the end of the ramp.

Also if you had the ramp lift slightly above the level of the mags at the end of the ramp, such that the magnets transition from pulling from the sides to pulling from the bottom, we may get better results, but I'm just guessing. I've always thought that if a SMOT ramp, transitioned to an adsitt ramp, we'd get better transitions off the end of the track. I didn't add this, because I'm not sure. I am however positive the first two suggestions would help.

Attached are some illustrations to show you what I'm talking about.

Regards,
Gn0stik.

[schriss]

you always wan't to drop the ball
I have attached what meant.

[gn0stik]

What you don't seem to understand schriss, is that we've all tried to figure out ways to do that. That is in fact THE problem to overcome with a SMOT. And without using gravity to break free of the magnetic field, so far, we've been unsuccessful. That's why we "drop" the ball. However we might be able to avoid dropping all the way back to the beginning point by doing it this way and preserving some of the forward momentum.

If we use the forward momentum to slingshot the ball around the radius, perhaps we can get a little more downward momentum on the otherside of it, to propel it into a track at a higher level than we started.

But who knows perhaps that would work. I haven't tried the modifications I suggested, so who knows.