SMOT with return ramp - no need to "close the loop"

[vikingdread]

Has this ever been considered?

What about a single SMOT ramp that has a return ramp. In other words a simple ramp that returns tha ball to it's starting position.

It should catch the ball at the drop off point, run around the ramp at a downward angle and return the ball to starting position.

I've created a simple drawing of what I have in mind:

[nutekk]

the magnets would screw it up...
maybe if you could tap some of the gravity energy while the ball is falling and use it in the last leg to make it reach back to the starting position.

[Paul-R]

Surely, this will work if the ball is returned to the bottom
of the SMOT ramp AT THE RIGHT SPEED. This may involve
quite a lot of fiddling, but it is important.

Alternatively, the ball could roll down the slope, and when it
is at the right speed, find another SMOT ramp which you
have thoughtfully put there.
Paul.

[vikingdread]

I admit it's perhaps a bit far fetched to try this with just one SMOT, but it becomes more feasible when you link three or four SMOTs in line, each next ramp positioned a bit higher than the previous one.

The drop-off after the last SMOT should then be high enough to escape the magnet field and return to the starting point, perhaps even with a curved return-ramp. I mean curved in the horizontal plane to stay out of reach of the SMOT magnets.

Like so:


By vikingdread at 2007-07-10

P.S. As this is a side projection it is not possible to show the curve of the return-ramp in the horizontal plane.

[Paul-R]

You are on the right track. Others are pumping energy in to get
mega performance, but your track is more scientifically elegant:
http://www.sussex.ac.uk/press_office/bulletin/22oct99/article1.html
http://www.sussex.ac.uk/press_office/bulletin/02may97/item9.html
Paul.