Building a self looping "SMOT"

[elecar]

Yes!  and just a quick follow-up, in your self-looping prototype, the C8 magnets do allow the "the ball to move away from the magnetic field" and move back down the ramp (right-hand ramp, i.e., the ramp without magnets nearby) -- is that correct? this is crucial. 

There must be no input from the outside by any prosaic force such as a finger-touch or moving a magnet or vibration or anything like that.  (No such input, right?)

PS - note- I'll be driving a friend right away to a VA hospital, gone all afternoon.

There are no tricks employed, the ball exits on the "down ramp" without any outside influence. Only magnets gravity, and track design are the driving forces.


I hope your friend is ok.

[jdsanders]

There are no tricks employed, the ball exits on the "down ramp" without any outside influence. Only magnets gravity, and track design are the driving forces.

Hello elecar,

THANKS for sharing your design, photos and video!  This is SUPER exciting!  You have been around OU for a while, so this probably goes without mentioning, but please remember to steel yourself for the inevitable troll attacks. You're doing a right and good thing -- don't let any verbal attacks / insinuations / hostile questions deter you.  We've seen so many productive experimenters run off by over-aggressive, badgering skeptics. 

Regards,
-Joel D. Sanders

[JouleSeeker]

There are no tricks employed, the ball exits on the "down ramp" without any outside influence. Only magnets gravity, and track design are the driving forces.


I hope your friend is ok.

Thanks for the re-affirmation, and WOW!   Again I think the non-conducting ceramic magnets are a key here.
Yes, my friend is fine - and I just drove him back from the Kansas City hospital.

[maw2432]

Hi Bill,
          I have to be honest I have never timed the runs, I can tell you that I did leave one test running whilst we went shopping and returned over 3 hours later and it was still running. I knew I would run into trouble when I claimed I would not be showing my design for a while, of course it appears like a dodge and I accept that. But the simple truth is I am talking with a toy manufacture who is interested in the design, and for that reason I am holding off disclosing my prototype. I am however not keeping the working details away from anyone. And a self build should be reasonably easy for anyone with some simple DIY skills and a bit of spare time on their hands.
If you just want to see my model running you should visit the thread in the future when I will post a video, I promised on another thread I would do that and I will post that video in the near future.

Thank you Elecar for the photos and video of your test build.  Nice work. 
The junction must have taken some tries to get right.   
I invision something like a rubber bumper, like one you find on an older mechanical pinball machine.   If there is enough momentum the ball should bounce off at the angle that is setup and down the ramp??
Bill

[lumen]

@elecar

I think you really started some gears turning in this thread.
If what you show is true, then there are many ways to improve this to the point of real output energy.