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So I found this on the internet... Hundreds of levitating balls!

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BigBad

Wed Nov 14 2012, 02:27AM

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

The biggest problem is probably pulling the balls out the box to start with; you would need a many tesla strong field for that.

You might be able to use a superconducting coil; but fuck knows how you stop the balls just slamming into the magnet; I'm not an expert on superconducting coils, but I don't think they're very off-and-on able; although turning them off once isn't a problem.

Patrick

Wed Nov 14 2012, 03:18AM

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

BigBad wrote ...

The biggest problem is probably pulling the balls out the box to start with; you would need a many tesla strong field for that.

You might be able to use a superconducting coil; but fuck knows how you stop the balls just slamming into the magnet; I'm not an expert on superconducting coils, but I don't think they're very off-and-on able; although turning them off once isn't a problem.

even if you can PWM a multi tesla magnet, how would that help? each ball would move up with different time and inertia, so pulsing the main field in the presence of gravity does little.

teravolt

Wed Nov 14 2012, 03:59AM

Registered Member #195 Joined: Fri Feb 17 2006, 08:27PM
Location: Berkeley, ca.
Posts: 1111

If this ever happened the junk yard magnet would have to have be a AC magnetic field because there are no power sources in the balls. that old magnet would never have a mgnetic field powerfull enough to lift anything ten feet in the air. fake!

Josh Campbell

Wed Nov 14 2012, 04:37AM

Registered Member #5258 Joined: Sun Jun 10 2012, 10:15PM
Location: Missouri - USA
Posts: 119

Talking purely on a what if basis. I would say that the stationary magnet would have a constant Tesla. Each floating device would have to be individually addressable (nothing difficult there) and able to adjust it's reactance to the constant field (difficult).

Possible ideas to actually do something like this (just brain storming):
-A small, single electromagnet like what they showed in the video (small screw with wire around it on that board). Full on and it would shoot away or toward the large field. PWM the power level to maybe control the attraction, but the orientation is still not controllable.

-Multiple electromagnets say at minimum 3, one on each axis forming the shape of a "jacks". Throw in a 3-axis accelerometer and PWM control of each magnet and you now have the ability to thrust in any direction and measure that movement. Maybe add in a hall effect sensor at some distance from the "thruster" magnets to measure the field strength and orientation of the large field to give the craft spacial awareness.

-The above navigation controls but rather than traditional electromagnets use an aluminum ball with small coils placed on the axes inside the ball generating eddy currents in the walls of the aluminum ball and thus opposing magnetic fields.

Of course a big problem would be powering the ball while not weighing it down. Options there could be a form of wireless power, perhaps rather than a stationary magnetic field use an alternating magnetic field. A coil in the ball converts the field alternations into power. And the hall effect switch ensure that propulsion is reversed each time the field reverses.

I still think that the strength at which the large field would need to operate would make the device to dangerous and or not reasonably feasible. Maybe if the field could be concentrated in a smaller controllable area. Some type of halbach array. Maybe in the gap of a large U ferrite... I'm probably going to end up dreaming about some magnetic flying machine tonight, thanks again interwebz.

Patrick

Wed Nov 14 2012, 05:11AM

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

yeah even moderately powerful magnetic fields can accelerate objects at lethal speeds/force. To 2byte's point.

macona

Wed Nov 14 2012, 12:55PM

Registered Member #3272 Joined: Mon Oct 04 2010, 11:40PM
Location: Beaverton, OR
Posts: 101

Fake:

Tetris

Wed Nov 14 2012, 08:18PM

Registered Member #4016 Joined: Thu Jul 21 2011, 01:52AM
Location: Gainesville, FL
Posts: 660

Fake or not, it still looks really cool. All I could think about is... you can buy almost anything that's known to humankind on e-bay.

BigBad

Wed Nov 14 2012, 08:29PM

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

Patrick wrote ...

even if you can PWM a multi tesla magnet, how would that help? each ball would move up with different time and inertia, so pulsing the main field in the presence of gravity does little.

If you put iron core into the balls, then they will tend to stick together and form one lump, and you might be able to control that lump, at least to some degree; but it will be fairly unstable.

Conundrum

Fri Nov 16 2012, 06:41PM

Registered Member #96 Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 05:37PM
Location: CI, Earth
Posts: 4061

About the only way this might work is to put a small fan inside each ball to provide a counter force.
This would keep the stack stable, and with the addition of induction power and LEDs would make a 3-D display feasible.

Pinky's Brain

Fri Nov 16 2012, 06:56PM

Registered Member #2901 Joined: Thu Jun 03 2010, 01:25PM
Location:
Posts: 837

What about putting a coil around a ferromagnetic core and dynamically connecting it to a tank capacitor? Wouldn't that oppose the magnetic field?

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