Poll

What do you think of the idea?

This is a great idea! If I was a truly horrible person, I would steal it!
5 (55.6%)
It might work, but I don't know.
2 (22.2%)
It wouldn't work.
2 (22.2%)

Total Members Voted: 9

Author Topic: Monowheel Stabilization  (Read 1689 times)

This is a rather strange idea, for a rather strange vehicle, and a rather strange place to put it.
I hope all of you people reading this are familiar with what a monowheel is. If not, then look it up. They're awesome.
My idea is one that I had after looking into monowheels, and why they were unpopular with anyone other than crazy idiots like me. Well, there is a word for the very reason: gerbilling. This is basically what happens when you brake or accelerate too quickly on one of these feisty little beasties: the inner part of the monowheel rotates too fast for any compensation and starts going around in circles in the opposite direction of the rest of the wheel, or in the case of braking, in the exact same direction and speed as the rest of the wheel.
So.
This was a roadblock for a long time, but then I had an idea, which I think could make this all work.
You would have an inner wheel.
NOTE: this is NOT referring to the inner part of the monowheel. This would be a completely separate flywheel that is contained within the wheel assembly.
The inner wheel would be weighted to be exactly the same as the outer wheel. It would never touch anything but the gears and whatnot that would make it spin. It would also spin at the exact same speed as the outer wheel. However, it would spin in the opposite direction. This would make it so that the inner part of the monowheel would remain completely upright and steady as a rock even when you brake as suddenly as possible. If this topic should be anywhere else, I don't know where, but the Blockland forums are the place to post this, as I don't know where else to post it.
If this is a valuable idea, then I probably should not have posted it here, but people will still be able to see that I had the idea. I will also send an email to myself in order to have more proof that I came up with the idea, just in case it works.
Please do not post anything stupid in my thread until you've read the entire thing, unless this gets to be big, in which case your stupidity, if it has anything to do with not reading the whole thing, will be excused. By me.

Post, vote, give me feedback! I want the advice of the public!
« Last Edit: August 06, 2011, 11:46:05 AM by Katadeus »

Mmmm, the brain of a scientist. I like the idea, you are thinking of a gyro like concept no?

Mmmm, the brain of a scientist. I like the idea, you are thinking of a gyro like concept no?
Yeah, pretty much. I'm picturing how it would work, how it would look, and I'm almost drooling.

Not that I know how physics work but wouldn't it make more sense for the "inner" wheel to be spinning horizontally from the wheel moving forward? If that would be possible anyway.
Actually
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8H98BgRzpOM
« Last Edit: August 06, 2011, 11:00:00 AM by TeslaCoil »

Not that I know how physics work but wouldn't it make more sense for the "inner" wheel to be spinning horizontally from the wheel moving forward? If that would be possible anyway.
No, because that wouldn't cancel out the spinning. What that would end up making it do is make it spin sideways uncontrollably as well as forwards/backwards.
Actually
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8H98BgRzpOM
This has little to do with it. What you see there is what keeps a bicycle, monowheel, or unicycle upright. What I'm talking about is using opposite rotational forces to cancel each other out. This can be likened to how on some remote-controlled helicopters, there are two sets of rotors, one above the other, that spin in opposite directions. Because of this, they are stabilized in midair and don't spin around like crazy when they shouldn't.
« Last Edit: August 06, 2011, 11:06:43 AM by Katadeus »

Never said I was claiming that as the basic idea, I'm just trying to understand where you are coming from in regards to the forces that will be used, and I figured that that video was closest to the idea just not accurate to the desired effect.

Yeah, it's close, but not the same. The helicopter rotors are the best example of what I want to do that I can think of.

You're better off with a heavy flywheel rotating in the opposite direction to counter the torque rather than countering the outer wheel's torque by rotating the entire inner wheel, but that presents it's own problems.

You're better off with a heavy flywheel rotating in the opposite direction to counter the torque rather than countering the outer wheel's torque by rotating the entire inner wheel, but that presents it's own problems.
Nononono. What I mean is that there would be three entirely independent parts: the outer wheel, the inner wheel, and all the other stuff, which would remain upright. My idea is basically the same: to have a flywheel.

There's also a really easy fix for this, without the need for a flywheel. Basically... stuff this is going to be hard to explain.

I'll just draw it.


However, it would spin in the opposite direction.

I just noticed that you said this.

That means you'll have to run backwards to go forwards, thus facing the opposite direction and not know where you're headed.  You'd need monitors up-the-butt to be able to go the right direction.

There's also a really easy fix for this, without the need for a flywheel. Basically... stuff this is going to be hard to explain.

I'll just draw it.

Also, your picture shows a sudden stop.  Your face would most likely be crushed into the wheel from such a sudden breakage.

Newton's Laws.

I just noticed that you said this.

That means you'll have to run backwards to go forwards, thus facing the opposite direction and not know where you're headed.  You'd need monitors up-the-butt to be able to go the right direction.

Also, your picture shows a sudden stop.  Your face would most likely be crushed into the wheel from such a sudden breakage.

Newton's Laws.
I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. The inner wheel would never touch the ground.

There's also a really easy fix for this, without the need for a flywheel. Basically... stuff this is going to be hard to explain.

I'll just draw it.
This would probably work, but the bars would need to be very long and unwieldy for this to work properly. My dad and I already thought up that solution; he had that particular idea and I added to it that it would probably work best if there were wheels on the ends of the poles instead of poles that go down when you break, hit the ground, and either bend from the stress or launch the monowheel, gerbilling, as if it was pole vaulting, up into the air. Which is bad.
The flywheel's rotational momentum, without it needing to even touch the ground or for that matter anything other than what was propelling it and keeping it in place, would allow the monowheel to stay upright, in fact perfectly upright, no matter what terrain the monowheel was going over.
However, there is a large downside to this.
The monowheel would slow down less quickly, this effect getting worse and worse the more heavy the wheel is. This effect wouldn't be bad if the wheel was small; in fact, it wouldn't be a problem at all, but with larger, heavier wheels, it could get dangerous.
« Last Edit: August 09, 2011, 12:26:08 PM by Katadeus »

I have been thinking for years about making infinite energy via two generators.  I have seemed to prove the theory false and I am finishing research.  I think it's totally possible and I'm excited.  About the monowheel, you've got the right idea.

I have been thinking for years about making infinite energy via two generators.  I have seemed to prove the theory false and I am finishing research.  I think it's totally possible and I'm excited.
It's not too difficult to understand that you can't have infinite energy unless you have 100% efficiency, which in itself is impossible to achieve. And even if you did you wouldn't be able to use any of that energy.