Posted by grim (206.162.192.40) on July 03, 2003 at 07:13:23:
In Reply to: Let mw bounce an idea off all of you...plus congrats... posted by Vector Viper on July 03, 2003 at 02:20:02:
: First of all, kudos to 'Mr Tim' and good luck. I know we all wish
: we were the first one-I know I wanted to be. But this thing called life keeps us away from what we want to do sometimes...
: My basic new idea is this-to slow down a weight already moving,
: and store that energy in a spring to help lift the weight later.
: I figure since the forced slowdown can be against gravity, more
: energy can be pulled from it. The weight then uses gravity again
: to speed back up (by itself) then the assembly gets lifted
: quickly back up to be stopped again. It's all in saving energy
: forlater; indeed, the spring could store many cycles worth
: of energy...
: One thing a love about this idea-the faster the weight gets lifted, the less energy is lost to gravity in the lift.At the
: same time, this speed also means more energy stored in the spring each cycle!
: I have been fighting Working model to test this-the spring/
: slowdown part I cannot seem to emulate right...
: The rest of the cycle seems promising.
: Happy 4th!!
: Later,
: Viper
Happy 4th to you to Viper!
The only way to know is to try it.
Don't know if this will help or not, but I got on a ferris wheel last weekend repeatedly, just to experience first hand what forces are felt on a weight revolving around a wheel. On the ascending side, I felt pressed into the seat. At the point where I could still just see the axle before it disappeared from view below the footrest, I began to experience a "lightening" in the seat, that maximized as the seat passed over the axle.
From that point I felt "lighter" until just before the seat passed under the axle,(about the same distance as when approaching it on the rising side), and then the cycle started again. So the descending weights would not only have to be "heavier" than the rising weights, but also must overcome the apparent weight "gain" experienced by the rising weights, along with their apparent weight "loss" on their descent.
Hope this info is useful, and is not just "mental vomit", as David put it. "Mental vomit"...Ha! I like that term!
Best to you and all, have a safe holiday!
grim