Roll on the 20th June

[Sprocket]

@Smoky2 - Hi.  Nice to see this thread resurrected and that someone is still plugging away at this.  I also followed this saga from the get-go, even donated a few bucks to Archer, but never tried a build of my own.  Until recently that is, although my tiny 1 metre wheel with a single cross-bar was never meant to self-run - just something to experiment with.  Working with magnets I find is a frustrating business, especially neo's - they break easily when I play with them!

Anyway, I found that although I could get the magnets to lift the cross-bar assembly at slow speeds, the faster it spins (hand-power naturally) the more CF interferes until it will no longer complete the lift.  So I was curious as to what rpm's you'd guesstimate your "tick, tick, tick..." wheel was doing before self-regulating?

[markdansie]

@Smkey2
Nice work, I think you are on to something.
Mark

[sm0ky2]

@Sprocket

i never really though about the RPM's, but lets see...
it takes approx. 3/4 of a second for each arm to fall
this happens 6 times per rotation....
so roughly 13.3333~ RPM ?? but its kinda pulsy, like a clock.

i think you'll find that when you add more arms, so that the wheel is balanced ( i think three is the minimum here) so that the weight offset by one arm pushed the next arm into the magnetic array, it slows the gravitational force during  1/8 of a turn.
by exactly -9.8 m/s^2 . so it accelerates then decelerates , "almost" pauses for a second, then the next arm raises, and takes over for the next notch. and in that way, the device regulates its own speed.   i imagine that a larger wheel will turn faster, but also use much stronger magnets, and thus it will have its own speed, that is faster than a smaller wheel. im not sure if that indicates an upper size limit, or simply that more mass and magnetic fields must be added to slow its rate....  something for the "big" builders to experiment with.

the thing i found about neos, is they are very powerful. but this causes their fields to be tightly contained. meaning they dont extend out much further than their diameter. and since they are smaller than a ceramic of the same strength, the field they produce is smaller. i made a lot of progress with them, but i wasn't able to get anything to work with my neos.

[infringer]

Yes money is always an issue I almost wonder if a double pendulum with an SMOT track would work...

Or even a vgate with a lever on the stator so many things to test so much to do so little time.

Have two computers to build and install software on 3 to fix have some automotive projects coming up and well also my lawn has been growing like weeds not to mention my job is going to be taking me on the road as well within the next month or two so much more I could keep going... A PMA build that is now working for my wind turbine from windblue power a new concept completely for wind  power that has never been done as well a wind chime generator Very cheap idea if it works it will be a huge success and everyone can build them for dirt cheap and have cheap power!

Once I test it and confirm its working I will be Open Sourcing that for the public... I should actually open source it now to tell the truth in case something were to happen errrrr who knows anyhow ... Wind Chimes generator should be a nifty idea worth looking at I may just open source the thing and let folks work out the bugs in the near future I need to purchase a camera and do a youtube for the appropriate presentation I believe though heh!

As far as money I have that much invested and basically all I have is a wheel with some hopeful ideas and a bearing in the center... But, yes we could all pretty much use the money here anyone not in need of money at this forum I would tend to second guess... Anyhow take care smoky2 slap up a vid if you get it running again ...

[sm0ky2]

to kinda show you what im dealing with right now,
i have some time comming up this weekend i can work out a fix.

basically, the solution we derrived to accomodate the movement of the rods, and have all the magnets lined up at the same time,
was to extend the magnet mounts back towards the face of the wheel. this works, but the outer most rod has a lot of tension from the off-set weight.

its worked groove into the wood, and now pulled the glue out of the square-linear bearings, so i will have to reassemble them.

im thinking to simply tighten the bearings and place small metal tabs around the wooden rod, for the bearings to ride tightly on.

may not help much for the friction, but it will stop the problem from completely destroying the rod itself. only thing i can think of for the short-term.

one of many design problems ive been trying to work around.
pardon my crude drawing.  this is one of the main reasons why it breaks itself so often.