Found a pair of seemingly-reliable metrics - got actuator power times time working, plus CF/CP force times radial velocity times time, for the CF/CP work integral. Here's the first cycle:
Stats:
Actuator power times time: 29.57742 J
CF/CP force times radial velocity times time: 24.64732 J
29.57742 - 24.64732 = 4.9301 J (radial KE is 5 J)
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Initial KE: 0.5 J
Final KE 30.05253 J
Difference = 29.55253 J - equal to actuator work
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time / stroke / Sys Momentum (kg-m²-rad/s)
0.00000 / TDC / 2
2.12960 / BDC / 23.91240
2.80560 / TDC / 15.82621
e/p efficiency:
29.55253 J / 15.82621 p = 1.86731 J per kg-m²-rad/s
Now that the accounting seems somewhat reliable, i'll try a longer run of many cycles, to see if that e/p yield changes. If not, then this stage of testing is pretty much done, and we can start adding in collisions.
Consider what will happen if this mechanism constituted 50% of the net system MoI, with the other 50% made up by a uniform disc, and both rotating together at equal speed. The mechanism accelerates ahead under gravity, as here, and having been further accelerated by an inertial torque it then collides with the solid disc, instantly doubling the MoI the gained momentum is distributed into, hence halving the velocity,
and hence halving the CF force that this quantity of angular momentum pertained to when MoI was 50% lower.
Hence we can grab some momentum from a gravity/time delta, knock its velocity down with a collision whilst still preserving all of it, and thus lowering the CF force and thus energy cost of the
next such cycle -
and so stepping off the ½mV² escalator.
Alternatively, we could try use a further MoI variation, instead of a collision:
• suppose we have
another pair of radially-sliding masses - a second variable MoI
• this secondary vMoI remains constant throughout each cycle, but increases
between successive cycles, thus raising net system MoI, lowering velocity for the current given net angular momentum, and hence lowering the CF workload and thus energy costs on the primary vMoI
• so as with collisions, this now forms the step-wise sequence; gain momentum from the gravity/time delta, then extend the secondary MoI, and repeat
Doubling MoI - whether by collisions or further MoI variation - quarters current RKE either way, so we still get that 25% per-cycle efficiency accumulator, starting out under-unity, then hitting unity, then topping it.
Furthermore, limiting the speed like this, in spite of rising net system momentum, helps maintain the time/momentum deltas, and thus the e/p efficiency. Obviously, the faster the system gets, the less time overall is spent gravitating per cycle - in principle we can maintain the asymmetry ratio, but the absolute amounts of momentum in and out per cycle decreases with speed.
And that's the simple picture of it - in a nutshell, momentum is being pumped into and then back out of the system, by gravity, but we're skimming some off. The total amount pumped in and out per cycle decreases with RPM, because gravity's acceleration is constant, so less time gravitating per cycle means less momentum exchanged, and so a smaller cut per cycle.
All else being equal, system velocity rises with rising angular momentum, and hence so does CF force, which sets the energy cost of running our skimming operation. Hence, the cost of accumulating that momentum squares with rising velocity, per ½mV², and no banana.
But because the inertial component of angular momentum - MoI - is dynamically variable, and momentum is
conserved, we can step down the velocity, and thus the impending energy cost of the next momentum-gain cycle, so accumulating reactionless angular momentum embezzled from gravity for a fraction of its ½mV² value..
I don't foresee any real challenges anyway. The overriding exploit - the 'zero day' - is the time-dependent momentum asymmetry, an effective N3 exception that allows accumulation of angular momentum exclusively from gravity. No stator required. Zero counter-momentum induced to the system. Perfect conditions to start decoupling PE from KE..
All that remains is to tame the CF as the momentum builds up, thus keeping input energies down - and we still have a third technique on reserve - off-axis (ie. orbiting) moments have a CF profile completely independent of the main system axis (as demo'd previously). All in all, as far as i can see there's no reason CF
has to increase linearly with rising angular momentum..
Can't repeat this enough - whatever kind of motor one may employ, the best efficiency you could hope for would be 0.5 J for your first kg-m²-rad/s of momentum, and then 2 J for the second. But if you could somehow pay only 0.5 J again, you'll have bought 2 J worth of KE for just 1 J.
Even if they were 0.75 J each, that's still only 1.5 J of PE for 2 J of KE. ½:1 is obviously the optimum e/p ratio to aim for, nature's base rate - we're currently at 1.86:1 here, but again, whatever the ratio,
even if it's speed-dependent, so long as it doesn't quite track ½mV², there's our energy gain margin. In practice i think OU in 5 cycles should be easily attainable..