Frictionless, magnetic transmission

http://www.gizmag.com/frictionless-superconductor-magnetic-levitating-gear-system/35005/

Very cool. One design to work in below freezing, full vacuum conditions (AKA space).

And the other for room temperature applications, or, the one I'm more interested in.

Probably a bit heavy at the moment, but it could be a major breakthrough for something like a tow rig or locomotive engine. Cool bit of technology.

Posting so I can find this later. Must read.

Max output in full vacuum and space temp is 3nm/s

3 Nm/s = 0.004023066 hp

hey, ya gotta start somewhere!

In reply to wearymicrobe:

Because those are the design specifications for this application...

In a way, we're already using magnetic drives on locomotives.

In reply to foxtrapper:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owen_Magnetic

mr2peak wrote: In reply to wearymicrobe: Because those are the design specifications for this application...

Since it only works at supercooled temps currently and is the size of a car and magnets do eventually lose their magnetism. I will hold my breath.

I know it's not the same thing, but this reminded me of the "no-contact" (frictionless) magnetic anti-lock brakes that I remember being intrigued by on the North American Eagle land speed racer.

Driven5 wrote: I know it's not the same thing, but this reminded me of the "no-contact" (frictionless) magnetic anti-lock brakesmagnetic anti-lock brakes that I remember being intrigued by on the North American Eagle land speed racer.

Now that is cool! Could you imagine that on a car? No brake fade?

foxtrapper wrote: In a way, we're already using magnetic drives on locomotives.

Some automotive A/C compressors use an actual magnetic drive.

wearymicrobe wrote:

mr2peak wrote: In reply to wearymicrobe: Because those are the design specifications for this application...

Since it only works at supercooled temps currently and is the size of a car and magnets do eventually lose their magnetism. I will hold my breath.

Read.

1) They designed 2 systems.

2) Most of the size/bulk is a refrigeration and vacuum system for testing, it's not part of the actual mechanism.

Yes, they still have a long way to go. The main goal is to eliminate wear from mechanical bearing surfaces for extended life. I'm sure they have a solution to the magnetism problem, or the magnets have been proven to outlive standard bearing surfaces.

I have done some work on torque transfer using magnets so this is really cool to me.

Spoolpigeon wrote:

Driven5 wrote: I know it's not the same thing, but this reminded me of the "no-contact" (frictionless) magnetic anti-lock brakesmagnetic anti-lock brakes that I remember being intrigued by on the North American Eagle land speed racer.

Now that is cool! Could you imagine that on a car? No brake fade?

Looks very similar to the wheel on a magnetic spin bike.

i wonder what ICP has to say about this?

slight sidetrack, but did anyone else click on this link on that page? i love how they say they have pretty much invented the holodeck and that they can envision doctors using it to feel tumors when everyone knows that it will be used for sex first, which will lead to the price coming down because everyone will want it...