Hi, does anyone have a picture or diagram of this device?
It was a wonderful makeshift concoction of a child's push-along fitted with a pendulum and gyroscope, which appeared to defy the laws of equal reaction by moving in one direction!
I used to have the details but have lost them and can't seem to find it again on the web.
Maglev inventor Eric Laithwaite was fascinated by the concept and then went on to upset the Royal Society with his unconventional demonstrations!
Alex jones reactionless device
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Furcurequs
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re: Alex jones reactionless device
Hey f nepure,
On the following page is a video in which Alex Jones and Eric Laithwaite reenact their first meeting. It shows Alex Jones demonstrating his device.
The segment begins at around the 6:50 mark and lasts about 2 minutes.
The video is in both Windows media format (.wmv) and Real Player format (.rm).
(The whole program is pretty good, btw.)
http://www.gyroscopes.org/heretic.asp
I've not seen any actual diagrams or still pictures of Jones' device, but the video shows it fairly clearly..
I hope this helps.
Dwayne
Edited to correct spelling and punctuation.
On the following page is a video in which Alex Jones and Eric Laithwaite reenact their first meeting. It shows Alex Jones demonstrating his device.
The segment begins at around the 6:50 mark and lasts about 2 minutes.
The video is in both Windows media format (.wmv) and Real Player format (.rm).
(The whole program is pretty good, btw.)
http://www.gyroscopes.org/heretic.asp
I've not seen any actual diagrams or still pictures of Jones' device, but the video shows it fairly clearly..
I hope this helps.
Dwayne
Edited to correct spelling and punctuation.
Last edited by Furcurequs on Fri Nov 09, 2012 2:41 am, edited 1 time in total.
I don't believe in conspiracies!
I prefer working alone.
I prefer working alone.
re: Alex jones reactionless device
That was brilliant! Thankyou Dwayne. A fascinating insight into the ups and downs of Eric's career despite the dodgy recording.
I am guessing that Eric's gyro work inadvertently focused on avoiding the fixed rotational centre through gyroscopic procession. Centripetance then not being provided by the relatively immobile mass/inertia of the earth itself.
Very Interesting indeed!
Thanks again,
Frank
I am guessing that Eric's gyro work inadvertently focused on avoiding the fixed rotational centre through gyroscopic procession. Centripetance then not being provided by the relatively immobile mass/inertia of the earth itself.
Very Interesting indeed!
Thanks again,
Frank
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Furcurequs
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re: Alex jones reactionless device
You're welcome, Frank. I thought it was quite fascinating, too.
Just in case you missed them, I would also recommend the videos of Eric Laithwaite's lecture that were on this page at the same site:
http://www.gyroscopes.org/1974lecture.asp
I happened to have been exploring some of the same ideas years before I had even heard of Laithwaite. He was investigating them first, though, of course.
I, too, was interested in the situation where the center of mass of the gyroscope precesses around its pivot point. This is where Laithwaite claims there is less centrifugal force than would be expected if the mass itself was just swinging around the pivot.
I, like him, was wondering if this effect could be used for some sort of reactionless propulsion device.
When the torque causing the precession is first applied, though, it appears there is a transient response in which an impulse is applied to the pivot in the horizontal (by the gyroscope).
I still have some tests I want to do to analyze this more thoroughly, though. One might be able to eliminate this horizontal force by also applying an impulse torque in the direction of rotation - as normally needs to be done to prevent a nutation.
Should my experiments show positive results, I already have a device design in mind to take advantage of the effect.
I noticed that in one of Laithwaite's tests he actually uses dual suspended gyroscopes where the horizontal impulses should tend to counter one another.
Anyway, it is interesting stuff.
Take care.
Dwayne
Just in case you missed them, I would also recommend the videos of Eric Laithwaite's lecture that were on this page at the same site:
http://www.gyroscopes.org/1974lecture.asp
I happened to have been exploring some of the same ideas years before I had even heard of Laithwaite. He was investigating them first, though, of course.
I, too, was interested in the situation where the center of mass of the gyroscope precesses around its pivot point. This is where Laithwaite claims there is less centrifugal force than would be expected if the mass itself was just swinging around the pivot.
I, like him, was wondering if this effect could be used for some sort of reactionless propulsion device.
When the torque causing the precession is first applied, though, it appears there is a transient response in which an impulse is applied to the pivot in the horizontal (by the gyroscope).
I still have some tests I want to do to analyze this more thoroughly, though. One might be able to eliminate this horizontal force by also applying an impulse torque in the direction of rotation - as normally needs to be done to prevent a nutation.
Should my experiments show positive results, I already have a device design in mind to take advantage of the effect.
I noticed that in one of Laithwaite's tests he actually uses dual suspended gyroscopes where the horizontal impulses should tend to counter one another.
Anyway, it is interesting stuff.
Take care.
Dwayne
I don't believe in conspiracies!
I prefer working alone.
I prefer working alone.
re: Alex jones reactionless device
Ahh, now i understand! The inertia of the gyroscope varies depending on it's position in relation to the velocity given to it by the pendulum. And only possible outside of a fixed-centre system, just as nature demonstrates.
...his name is Frank