# Solar powered, Magnetically levitated, Electric motor



## rustyknife (Dec 4, 2011)

I realize this is not Home Model Motor Machinist, and I apologize if I am out of line posting this here. I did all the work to it on the mill and lathe if that helps.

I made a little solar powered, magnetically levitated, electric motor! It's a neat little thing, absolute mind blow to watch. This is my 3rd attempt, but first successful.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBwUnATbCV4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBwUnATbCV4[/ame]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGBc1xeqV1Q]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGBc1xeqV1Q[/ame]


I'm going to give this one to my mother for her birthday on tuesday, and then start on a new one, the next one will be much better. I could do a buildup if others are curious in making one of their own.

Regards,
Eric


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## Stewarma (Dec 4, 2011)

that is really neat, I would love to make one. 

thanks for showing it, 

Matt


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## srikanth94 (Dec 4, 2011)

yes please do a build order... i would like to make one as my project for college....so it will be very help full if you would do brief buildup...
thank you


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## rustyknife (Dec 4, 2011)

I'm glad to see there is some interest. It was actually incredibly tough to design, it took a entire month of research to figure out the formulas I needed to calculate the magnetic fields generated. And don't get me wrong, there was plenty of failures. My next one is going to rock though. Here's some action shots.


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## rustyknife (Dec 4, 2011)

And some slow shots


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## smfr (Dec 4, 2011)

Very cool. Apparently this is called a Mendocino Motor http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mendocino_motor and there are some nice ones on YouTube, like this one:

http://www.youtube.com/v/eP3cRmhI6fw

Simon


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## rustyknife (Dec 4, 2011)

Yes, I believe the man who came up with the concept was from mendocino county in california. I had seen one on youtube and just had to build it. I tried speaking with a man from sweden and mexico for help on it but the language barrier really stopped that. I was left to trial and error with a little theory.

It just blows my mind that even everyday lightbulbs emit photons that contain energy to do work....all light not just the sun.


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## Ken I (Dec 4, 2011)

Rustyknife - if it turns and is interesting - I guessing its welcome on this forum - it certainly fits right into my wierd sh1t I want to build criteria.

A build thread would be welcome.

Ken


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## steamer (Dec 4, 2011)

Now that's cool! 

The magnetic field calculations....Could you expound?

Dave


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## GailInNM (Dec 4, 2011)

rustyknife,
That is great. 

I have a levitated rotor that I bought maybe 10 years ago. It is one of the favorite toys of the grand kids when they are visiting. A motorized version would go along with it very well.

A build article would be very nice.

Gail in NM


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## boatmadman (Dec 4, 2011)

Brilliant - I want to build one as well! :bow:


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## George_Race (Dec 4, 2011)

Really cool! Would love to see step by step construction details.
Looks like a really fun build.
George


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## rustyknife (Dec 4, 2011)

Well, I took it over to my parents house this morning and gave it to them. They have a track light setup probably 5 feet from the fireplace mantle and it runs a little bit faster then on my bathroom counter. I got a text message a little bit ago from mom, telling me its still turning and that they love it. +1 for being a good son haha.

I will build another and show how/why it works, and how to select the components, and the failures and successes I've determined so far.

There is so many different components that one can buy and make it work, that really a "here's a set of plans, go forth and build" really cannot work for something like this.  But I believe I can show how it is done effectively. The project will still be moderately difficult and you will have to adjust parts to fit your materials of choice. Give me a week or 2 to gather more funds and time.

I'm a socialist at heart I believe so, I think everything, especially knowledge, should be free.

There are a lot of quite talented individuals here, I'm eager as to see the designs/variations they come up with.

Regards,
Eric


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## tel (Dec 5, 2011)

ONYA Eric! I'm looking forward to this! Thm:


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## Swede (Dec 9, 2011)

That's really cool - it looks like a tiny satellite!  ;D I like it a lot.

It also reminds me of balancing jet inconel turbine rotors using a magnetic rig, although of course that wasn't self powered. That style of magnetic levitation is so sensitive that that shaft itself (O-1 steel) had to be balanced with dremel grinder cuts.

How about machining a set of fan blades into a disk you can mount in the end? That way, it could do "work" for you, and I think it'd add some visual interest.

One of the neater demos I saw of the power of photons was a rig that suspended gold leaf on a super-fine wire in a glass vacuum tube, and if you hit the foil with a laser pointer, it'd wiggle a bit, just from the impact of the photons.


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