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"Magnetic Field Architecture" and the HENDO Hoverboard - *ALMOST* a real hoverboard

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hen918

Mon Oct 27 2014, 06:29PM

Registered Member #11591 Joined: Wed Mar 20 2013, 08:20PM
Location: UK
Posts: 556

The aluminium would have to be smooth and flat for the greatest efficiency, if the aluminium was used on roads that were also used for non-hovering vehicles, there would be no traction in the wet, the aluminium would wear very quickly and, in the nasty outside environment, it would also corrode in a very short time (non-hovering vehicles or not)

Not to dishearten you or anything :)

Patrick

Mon Oct 27 2014, 07:42PM

Registered Member #2431 Joined: Tue Oct 13 2009, 09:47PM
Location: Chico, CA. USA
Posts: 5639

There may be better use of this tech, like moving dangerous materials where the travel is predictable. Yuca mountain and Hanford type sites come to mind.

Non-contact to avoid tracking contamination, and sealed no-moving parts are two advantages.

BigBad

Mon Oct 27 2014, 09:04PM

Registered Member #2529 Joined: Thu Dec 10 2009, 02:43AM
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Posts: 600

Patrick wrote ...

Where are we to mine all this aluminum, which will be permanently out of circulation for other purposes?

There's never going to be a shortage of aluminium. Aluminium is one of the most common elements on earth.

hen918 wrote ...

The aluminium would have to be smooth and flat for the greatest efficiency, if the aluminium was used on roads that were also used for non-hovering vehicles, there would be no traction in the wet, the aluminium would wear very quickly and, in the nasty outside environment, it would also corrode in a very short time (non-hovering vehicles or not)

Aluminium is very stable except near the ocean. Even then you can paint it.

Nucleophobe wrote ...

Still, losses with wheels are not so bad. Even if you go through all the trouble to make aluminum-plated roadways for hovering vehicles, you will still have aerodynamic drag. I'm not sure what you really gain other than cool factor and (maybe) a smoother ride.

That is the issue with these kinds of systems; they're not sufficiently better to make them worth building. Aluminium would probably last better than roads though, maintenance costs for maglev are usually very low, but upfront costs are usually higher.

Patrick

Mon Oct 27 2014, 10:01PM

Registered Member #2431 Joined: Tue Oct 13 2009, 09:47PM
Location: Chico, CA. USA
Posts: 5639

BigBad wrote ...

Patrick wrote ...

Where are we to mine all this aluminum, which will be permanently out of circulation for other purposes?

There's never going to be a shortage of aluminium. Aluminium is one of the most common elements on earth.

ok fair point, but it still requires enormous electricity to obtain Al.

Shrad

Tue Oct 28 2014, 11:05AM

Registered Member #3215 Joined: Sun Sept 19 2010, 08:42PM
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isn't there a compound of aluminum which could be grind off in such a fashion as to provide enhanced conductivity as well as deliver mechanical properties which are compatible with modern road construction processes?

BigBad

Tue Oct 28 2014, 12:46PM

Registered Member #2529 Joined: Thu Dec 10 2009, 02:43AM
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Well alumina is quite hard, but non conductive.

Road surfaces are surprisingly complex. Getting a flexible, hard wearing, water shedding surface that can survive winters is not at all straightforward.

It might well be possible to stick a cm layer of grippy alumina or other material on top of a sheet of aluminium; and run the levitation through it, to the aluminium below.

Although it's possible, whether it would be a practical system in the round, I doubt.

hen918

Tue Oct 28 2014, 04:25PM

Registered Member #11591 Joined: Wed Mar 20 2013, 08:20PM
Location: UK
Posts: 556

And then there is the safety issue. Top speeds couldn't be very high. As the hoverboard appears on the kickstarter page, stopping sharply would throw you off. (If you could stop sharply, that is)

Shrad

Wed Oct 29 2014, 10:32AM

Registered Member #3215 Joined: Sun Sept 19 2010, 08:42PM
Location:
Posts: 780

that's already the case with a car... if you stand up at the roof like you would do with a skateboard, no doubt you'd be thrown off...

I know how complex the process of making road surfaces is, I saw a test lab with different types of surfaces and this is a science in itself...

what I wonder about the adaptability is if we could conceive a conductive mix which would behave like modern road surface mixes while still achieving the (surface) conductivity required for levitating such devices

the aluminum relative cheapness combined with the fact that it would be possible, due to the absence of tire contact and degradation, to have a durable coating which would require little to no maintenance would make for a very interesting displacement medium even for personal transportation...

BigBad

Wed Oct 29 2014, 02:46PM

Registered Member #2529 Joined: Thu Dec 10 2009, 02:43AM
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Posts: 600

I don't think the combined road thing is a good idea, but you could conceivably make a luge style course out of aluminium as a halfpipe or something.

I haven't quite worked it out, but potentially you could steer these types of things; if you look at the graph I gave above- by varying the spin speed, if you have forward speed, some parts of the rotor will be moving at close to the track speed. That will then give you a significant lateral force based on the relative speed they see there.

Conundrum

Thu Oct 30 2014, 10:10AM

Registered Member #96 Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 05:37PM
Location: CI, Earth
Posts: 4059

EDIT: Flooring materials.
SrTiO3 and a UV light to "charge" up the floor and make it conductive while the board is over it.
Adds to the challenge as fly height would depend on who has been over that spot before much like ice skating.

Also worth considering, put an induction charger pad under the floor as this would now be feasible due to the transient nature of the conductivity.
Any "hot spots" would rapidly transition back to an insulator.

Re. steering, a simple pair of coils that applies braking force on one side would allow sharp turns.

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