Hello, I happen to stumble on this website by accident... I have been interested in building a power unit for atleast 5 years now but before I go into it I would like to say that we already have the technology to harness energy from the Earth's magnetic field using a satelite with a tether that is crossing the magnetic field at 15,000 miles per hour and generates an enormous amount of energy and then converts it to a transmission wave that beams down to a stationary power unit on Earth which in turn reconverts the wave back into electricity. And since it is very easy to keep a satelite in a stationary position above the Earth there is no problem with it not lining up with the station. I'm just confused why we don't use the technology we have, because it's the safest form of energy we could ever have and it's not that complicated!
Anyways, I hoping anyone who is great at building things could help me with a proto type of a different kind of power device.(I don't want any money, I just wanna see it work, so the more heads the better on this project!) Mine requires a Cylintrical drum sitting upright(I'll do my best to describe it) Inside the drum resting at ~22.5% angle is a wheel that spins on a verticle axis. This wheel should be able to roll around along the inner drum wall. Remember the wheel however is at ~22.5% angle to the wall. Now exactly perpendicular to the wheel is another wheel(substantially smaller as to not touch the wall of the drum) that travels the outer rim of the larger wheel but who's axis is directly connected to the perpendicular axis of the large wheel's axis. This wheel will naturally swing to the lowest point of the larger wheel due to gravity when observed without any other forces but gravity. Now hopefully your all still with me and I haven't lost anyone. The material that the drum and the larger wheel are made of are of any non conductive nature, whether it be wood, fiberglass, plastic, whatever. ok, now we line the inner wall of the drum with a single band of magnetic material that will have it's polarization going all the same direction around the drum. The little wheel will be of magnetic material itself, but polarized to push away from the walls of the drum. Now picture this... The little wheel will stay away from the walls and basicly off set the balance of the larger wheel so that it starts to travel in one direction. Both wheels will continue to pick up speed as they continue to rotate around the drum until either friction or the force that governs gyroscopes(whichs I can't remember what that force is called)causes it to reach a terminal velocity. Now If someone can build this I would love to do some measurements so I can make the ajustments needed to allow it to not only spin fast enough but also create the right weight for the wheels to create enough torque on the larger wheel axis in order to turn a generator. If this can work, I believe we will all be able to have a shed sized power unit in our back yards to power our house, and for cities they could construct larger units to power other structures, even maybe roads like they do with bumper cars. Anyone with some input or problems with this design let me know on here. So far all the small experiments I've done over the past 3 years have been successful, just need a larger unit and strong mangentic material(which is not cheap by the way).
If someone knows the name of the gyroscopic force I'm talking about please post it here for reference. An example on what this force is(this is a fun trick), take a bicycle wheel and hold it upright like it would be on a bicycle. Put one end of the axis of the wheel on a finger and with the other hand spin the wheel as fast as you can. The wheel will remain upright as if by magic and it will exert a small force causing you to turn in place as it rapidly rotates. It's really cool and fun(I guess if your a nerd like me...lol)
I've added a drawing submitted by Wattsup and I will attempt a drawing myself to better display the project. For now, this drawing will do with a minor change. The axis on the large wheel needs to remain perpendicular to each other or in other words the axis of the larger wheel is also slanting. Overall that was a great dipiction of what I was explaining. Much debate is required for this project, and anyone able to construct it as a prototype would be my hero!
This is a freehand attempt of drawing the entire device. The drawing is horrible, I know, but like I said, I'm no artist or CAD expert. Whoever is a CAD expert can clean it up. But I figured I'd get it out there atleast for now. ;D
The bicycle wheel....
Check this out, Mr. G knows what your talking about.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=P014jvaB3ic (http://youtube.com/watch?v=P014jvaB3ic)
Good Luck!
Thank you, that video was a perfect example of what I was taliking about and he did mention the terms I was asking for which are Angular Momentum and Gyroscopic inertia. They both play a large part in the success of the device and also restrict the device as well... kind of a double wammy. But that is why I need a proto type so I can take measurements. Thanks again for that excellent link!
thank you for sharing :)
@Nebularnemesis
Is there any way you can make a better drawing with a close up of the wheel mechanism you have in mind, or show the motion of the wheel, or both. Maybe use a ruler. lol
I like the idea! May I ask what the significance is of 22.5 degrees? Has that been found to be a good angle for force on the axle? I may try and draw up something a little later.
Ok, for this project I only have the actual design with a few experiments to ensure that the device can actually move. But, there is still alot to do with this, before I believe a proto-type can even be built. We need to create a few formulas. So I'll just state some facts that would be a good starting point.
The steeper the wheel, the stronger the magnetic force has to be in order for it to push the little wheel up the slope. I believe the perfect vector angle would be 45 degrees. This is not taking in consideration any other factors like angular momentum or gyroscopic inertia which become stronger as the entire thing picks up speed. I selected 22.5 degrees merely becuase it is half of 45 and it's a safe starting point for any experiments but it will more than likely not be the actual angle to use, since that is based on the magnetic force used.
Also, the heavier the wheels, the more torque that can be provide on the axis of the larger wheel. I, personally am lost when it comes to torque. So if this is anyone's best subject, I would gladly accept help.
The heavier the wheels, the more magnetic force is then needed to move the the little wheel up the slope.
The little wheel acts as to unbalance the larger wheel, so it's weight should be directly related to the larger wheel and you want the smaller wheel to be in a constant falling motion as it spins around the larger wheel.
Well that is all for now.... I'll work on using rulers for drawings and such.....;)
Again...I dig it. I have played around with the motions by hand and I would say it would work as long as the repulsive magnetic forces on the smaller wheel don't offset any force vectors of its weight / balance ration.
...technology to harness energy from the Earth's magnetic field using a satelite with a tether that is crossing the magnetic field at 15,000 miles per hour and generates an enormous amount of energy and then converts it to a transmission wave that beams down to a stationary power unit on Earth which in turn reconverts the wave back into electricity. And since it is very easy to keep a satelite in a stationary position above the Earth there is no problem with it not lining up with the station...
@Nebby...How does the tether cross the Earth's lines of flux at 15000 mph if the satellite is in a stationary position with respect to Earth?
I think your thinking cap needs adjustment!
Quote from: Humbugger on August 14, 2007, 11:40:49 AM
@Nebby...How does the tether cross the Earth's lines of flux at 15000 mph if the satellite is in a stationary position with respect to Earth?
I think your thinking cap needs adjustment!
The motion of Earth's magnetic field are relative to the Earth's activity underneath the Earth's crust and not the actual crust itself, otherwise, how would you explain the magnetic field's speed change and eventual polar reversal? Yes, ofcourse this makes the actual speed your cutting the magnetic field a dynamic problem, but not enough to prevent us from harnessing power since it doesn't even reverse polarity for 7,000 years or so! But regardless, this had nothing to do with the actual experiment at hand. But thanks for allowing me to clear that up...... and BTW I saw video footage of the actual NASA tether experiment as the conductor got so hot it snapped! ok, anyways, that's NASA's project, not mine.
Quote from: Nebularnemesis on August 15, 2007, 03:42:38 PM
Quote from: Humbugger on August 14, 2007, 11:40:49 AM
@Nebby...How does the tether cross the Earth's lines of flux at 15000 mph if the satellite is in a stationary position with respect to Earth?
I think your thinking cap needs adjustment!
The motion of Earth's magnetic field are relative to the Earth's activity underneath the Earth's crust and not the actual crust itself, otherwise, how would you explain the magnetic field's speed change and eventual polar reversal? Yes, ofcourse this makes the actual speed your cutting the magnetic field a dynamic problem, but not enough to prevent us from harnessing power since it doesn't even reverse polarity for 7,000 years or so! But regardless, this had nothing to do with the actual experiment at hand. But thanks for allowing me to clear that up...... and BTW I saw video footage of the actual NASA tether experiment as the conductor got so hot it snapped! ok, anyways, that's NASA's project, not mine.
So...you trying ta tell me the Earth's crust is moving at 15,000 mph with respect to our magnetic field? Yer stickin to that story? Seems if that were true or anywhere near true, all we'd have to do is wind up some big-ass coils, anchor them to the crust (or just lay them down) and we'd get huge energy with all those lines of flux cutting through continuously at 15,000 mph.
I still say your thinking cap needs (even more serious now) adjustments! LOL
Hahaha..... of course that doesn't work! lol I'm not saying the difference between the Earth's crust and the magnetic field is 15,000mph. That's just what the shuttle was doing in an experiment. The tether has to work in conjuction with the earth's ionosphere. If you are interested in the ongoing experiments and developments of NASA's they have alot of info on nasa.gov Just type in Tethered Satellite System (TSS-1R) or just TSS. There are many documents and experiments that are available there. Frankly, I'm not... I just stated that we have the technology to do this type of stuff... but on with the Gyro-Magnetic Generator!
@Neb
Are you still worried about this tether business.Geez, You should be busy designing your Gyro. Just make sure you have a ruler this time, or people here will think you have the shivers.
I'm really curious how you plan to attack the problem of the mechanism of the small wheel riding on the large wheel. Of course having the least friction possible while maintaining the action. It's a tall order indeed.
I wish to appologize for my absence. I have finally finished up the majority of a County political campaign which I served as the chairman for, which required me to put my little project here on hold. I will begin hopefully to contine where I left off. While I was away, has anyone else tried to perform any experiments with this basic design? If not, don't worry, I will be starting the proto type here in the next few weeks, but I can only dedicate time on Saturdays to this, so not a whole lot of time really. Thank to everyone who has contributed questions or ides/drawings so far, and again, sorry for my absence.
Take a look at these videos from the master of gyroscopes. :D
http://www.gyroscopes.org/1974lecture.asp
I've always thought a gyroscope was the key to a magnet motor, but never could think of a way to implement it. I used one of those hand wound exercise ball gyroscopes and was fascinated by how fast the thing would wind up and how much energy it seem to gain with relatively little movement.