'Defy'-Grav magnets idea.

Senor_Grunt · Post by **Senor_Grunt** » Mon Sep 10, 2007 2:26 pm

I was bored one day with my friend Josh, and we had to think of something to do before we died of boredom. So I came up with this idea of putting some magnets on the bottom of a skateboard with no wheels or trucks, then making a specific area in my backyard to put magnets down so they 'repel' the magnets on the board, kind of causing the board to float.

Does anyone think this idea would work?
or has there already been an experiment like this?

JK-47 · Post by **JK-47** » Mon Sep 10, 2007 2:27 pm

I really doubt it... I had the same idea for cars, but someone (can't remember who) gave me a very nice reason of why it wouldn't work (cant remember what it was). But you'd have pretty much no control over the skateboard..

warlord · Post by **warlord** » Mon Sep 10, 2007 2:28 pm

magnetic monorails in japan use magnets i think even the chinesse bullet train uses it.

JK-47 · Post by **JK-47** » Mon Sep 10, 2007 2:29 pm

warlord wrote:magnetic monorails in japan use magnets i think even the chinesse bullet train uses it.

That's a different story. They just use the magnets for a way to propel the train. The train can remain in control because it's attached to rails.

Senor_Grunt · Post by **Senor_Grunt** » Mon Sep 10, 2007 2:30 pm

Yeah, a girl in my old school did an experiment on that with a 'mini' version of china's bullet train. It worked but only because it had barriers to stop if from repelling off the side.

FleetAdmiralBacon · Post by **FleetAdmiralBacon** » Mon Sep 10, 2007 2:32 pm

Depends, do you have a whole f*** load of magnets? Or a fairly powerful electrical source and the equipment to make a bunch of electro magnets?

Regardless, yes, lots of magnets on ground (facing in the appropriate directions) + board covered in lots of magnets (same deal) = hovering board (but have fun controlling it)

Maglevs use the same concept, only a track = stability and incredible speeds.

Conclusion:
If you have the time and money, you could turn your backyard into a hoverboard park with a minimal hovering height (depends on the power of the board and ground magnets, if you have ridiculous amounts of power going through your ground magnets, expect higher hovering, but other... er.. consequences.) Also, if you do do this, make sure you're not wearing anything metal.

Ragdoll · Post by **Ragdoll** » Mon Sep 10, 2007 2:32 pm

it is entirely possible... if you do it right

heres some info on how it works. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maglev_train

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Sep 10, 2007 2:33 pm

you'll need some sort of propeller or something to move you, and some sort of ruder on the skateboard for you to control it otherwise you need some strong magnets for it to work with you on it.

JK-47 · Post by **JK-47** » Mon Sep 10, 2007 2:34 pm

tomg44 wrote:it is entirely possible... if you do it right

heres some info on how it works. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maglev_train

Magnetic trains can't be compared to a magnetic skateboard. While the concept is pretty much the same, the mechanics would be quite different.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Sep 10, 2007 2:36 pm

if you made just a skater bowl of really strong magnets and some more magnets on the skateboard it would work once you find a way to control the skateboard like a rudder or something.

FleetAdmiralBacon · Post by **FleetAdmiralBacon** » Mon Sep 10, 2007 2:38 pm

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Ragdoll · Post by **Ragdoll** » Mon Sep 10, 2007 2:38 pm

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JK-47 · Post by **JK-47** » Mon Sep 10, 2007 2:38 pm

A bowl would be very complicated. The magnets on the sides wouldn't propel you up, they'd propel you back into the center of the bowl.
The whole thing would be complicated, and you'd have to position the magnets just right, taking a large amount of time.

Senor_Grunt · Post by **Senor_Grunt** » Mon Sep 10, 2007 2:39 pm

Depends, do you have a whole f*** load of magnets? Or a fairly powerful electrical source and the equipment to make a bunch of electro magnets?

Regardless, yes, lots of magnets on ground (facing in the appropriate directions) + board covered in lots of magnets (same deal) = hovering board (but have fun controlling it)

Maglevs use the same concept, only a track = stability and incredible speeds.

Conclusion:
If you have the time and money, you could turn your backyard into a hoverboard park with a minimal hovering height (depends on the power of the board and ground magnets, if you have ridiculous amounts of power going through your ground magnets, expect higher hovering, but other... er.. consequences.) Also, if you do do this, make sure you're not wearing anything metal.

My mom is a teacher for elementary kids so I can get a bunch of magnets from her.

When I thought about this I did think about how to control it, but I never came up with anything that would work.

And yes, metal objects would equal bad turnouts of this experiment.

JK-47 · Post by **JK-47** » Mon Sep 10, 2007 2:40 pm

I seriously doubt magnets from an elementary school would have enough force to hold a person up on a board..

Cryticfarm · Post by **Cryticfarm** » Mon Sep 10, 2007 2:40 pm

I've been on a maglev in china, went across shanghai in like 2 minutes.

Senor_Grunt · Post by **Senor_Grunt** » Mon Sep 10, 2007 2:44 pm

JK-47 wrote:I seriously doubt magnets from an elementary school would have enough force to hold a person up on a board..

True.

I could try ebay. They sell EVERYTHING.
lol

gh0570fchurch · Post by **gh0570fchurch** » Mon Sep 10, 2007 2:45 pm

The human body doesn't have the type of weight distribution to do that. The most that might do is tip one side of the board up (if you use really powerful magnets).

fishface617 · Post by **fishface617** » Mon Sep 10, 2007 2:45 pm

Senor_Grunt wrote: My mom is a teacher for elementary kids so I can get a bunch of magnets from her.

When I thought about this I did think about how to control it, but I never came up with anything that would work.

And yes, metal objects would equal bad turnouts of this experiment.

You would need to use, at the very least, rare earth magnets. Not classroom magnets.

FleetAdmiralBacon · Post by **FleetAdmiralBacon** » Mon Sep 10, 2007 2:46 pm

In small scale tests, I've been able to control an array of magnets hovering over another array of magnets, it's complicated, but not impossible, nor is it as problematic as some seem to think it is.

I've been on a maglev in china, went across shanghai in like 2 minutes.

No more on the Maglev, it's a different concept altogether.

--
As a means of recreation, using a ground-based array of relatively powerful electro magnets to levitate a pilotable board with its own, self-powered (or even, externally powered) array of controlled electro magnets, would work.

The magnets on the sides wouldn't propel you up, they'd propel you back into the center of the bowl

Actually, if they were facing up, they would propel you up to edge, don't see exactly why you would want the ground array to determine propulsion, though. If you ask me, you'd want the ground array to be static, so that any hovering object placed on it could maintain a uniform level of levitation without being thrown in any one specific direction. The vehicle itself would need a means of changing the orientation of the magnets in its array in order to propel it over the ground.