- #1
some bloke
- 280
- 99
- TL;DR Summary
- I am trying to work out how to maintain momentum in a vertical drum spinner without the gyroscopic tilting when steering.
The premise is that whenever you watch Battlebots or Robot Wars, there's usually a robot on there which has a vertical drum spinner which weighs half the robots weight and spins at thousands of RPM, and whenever the robot turns, it cocks one wheel in the air due to the gyroscopic forces at play.
Now, we can safely assume that if it's raising the centre of gravity of the robot upwards, then the spinner is losing power, plus the robot is losing controllability, and it's leaving its underside open to attack, which is bad.
I am wondering if there is a mechanism by which the drum spinner can be adapted to reduce this energy expenditure, and keep the robot planted on the floor where it belongs, without simply slowing down or reducing the wieght of the spinner.
My first thought was to have the spinner be a set of wheels which spin on the opposite axis, but I now realise that would just comprise of having many gyroscopes constantly trying to turn, and would generate greater energy loss. I also contemplated a liquid core, before realising that this would not expend its energy on the target, making the weapon less effective.
IS there any mechanism which I could use to minimise the gyroscopic tilting?
Now, we can safely assume that if it's raising the centre of gravity of the robot upwards, then the spinner is losing power, plus the robot is losing controllability, and it's leaving its underside open to attack, which is bad.
I am wondering if there is a mechanism by which the drum spinner can be adapted to reduce this energy expenditure, and keep the robot planted on the floor where it belongs, without simply slowing down or reducing the wieght of the spinner.
My first thought was to have the spinner be a set of wheels which spin on the opposite axis, but I now realise that would just comprise of having many gyroscopes constantly trying to turn, and would generate greater energy loss. I also contemplated a liquid core, before realising that this would not expend its energy on the target, making the weapon less effective.
IS there any mechanism which I could use to minimise the gyroscopic tilting?