electro magnet flipper

[Eventorizon]

PJ is right. If you go down that route then you end up building a Kinetic flipper. Those work well but they are very hard to make. This guy has built loads but without assess to all the same tools its virtually impossible. http://www.wa4dsy.com/robot/flip-o-matic

[Bacon Wizard]

Isn't that just a DC motor?

Yes

[PJ-27]

Yes

Lol

Dale's robots are very impressive!

[Liftoff]

What do you think of this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYq2hHleLeM

Was thinking of using it for a FW but maybe its more suited for a BW

[swanaldo]

i like the concept....how would you return the catapult for another fire?

[Bacon Wizard]

I strongly suspect that the size of magnets you'd need to get any real force into the flipper might put you well over weight. You're gonna want something with say 10 or 20 x the power of the one in the video, just for beetleweight.

Also, a possible flaw with the concept is that one of the magnets has to be in the flipper itself.. so that it already has to lift its own weight, as well as that of the flipper and the other robot.

If it were me, I'd still want to do more research before giving-up on the idea, but instinctively I'd wager this is a dead-end.

[Liftoff]

You'll have to use an electromagnet at the bottom and a perm magnet on top...the electromagnet should be twice as powerful tho, as the perm magnet will attract itself to the iron core...had tried something similar on a small scale and worked, but when it came to FW, the electromagnet would have been too heavy to get a similar force to a Co2 system

[Liftoff]

Jasper, neodymium magnets are super strong for their weight, as an idea a 250gr magnet has a force of 100kg. You wouldnt need that type of force for a BW for sure... for a FW its another story

[Bacon Wizard]

You said yourself, it was too heavy for a feather. Although 980 Newtons of force for 250g is impressive, I agree.

Maybe the power/weight ratio is better on a smaller scale?

[Liftoff]

Ah, ok...I've been misunderstood I meant this for a BW, for a FW I ruled it out and built a Co2 powered one. A 350kg electromagnet would have been too heavy and bulky.
But for a BW it might work.
This is a 20kg magnet... weighs only 46 gr
http://www.kjmagnetics.com/proddetai...CB-N52&cat=168