Hey /sci/ I had a quick question for all of you. There is a problem called "The Windmill Problem" as seen in this video here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M64HUIJFTZM
Could you make a physical device that represents this problem?
Here are my thoughts,
Now, the solution is given but it got me thinking. Let's say you made a circular casing. Made out of a material that could withstand a lot of movement. And within this casing you had something similar to bearings on a skateboard wheel at each end. The outer shell would remain static but the bearings would rotate in circles if force is applied to them. Then, you use an algorithm to control magnets that pull and grab a rod that attaches from the top to the bottom of the bearings. The magnets could cause the device to spin. The rod would be grabbed by a new "point" which represents the magnets, and then released by the previous "point" or magnets, so on and so forth. Assuming you were able to do this, and you got the algorithm to keep up with the rod at high speeds, could a material be used to line the outer shell and the part that spins, causing the kinetic energy to turn into thermal energy, and would this be enough energy to power the device without an outside source and then some?
There are most definitely holes in this idea and I'd like to know what the engineering challenges would be to do something similar. In the end I could only see it being done as a way to showcase the windmill problem's solution without any benefit beyond that.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M64HUIJFTZM
Could you make a physical device that represents this problem?
Here are my thoughts,
Now, the solution is given but it got me thinking. Let's say you made a circular casing. Made out of a material that could withstand a lot of movement. And within this casing you had something similar to bearings on a skateboard wheel at each end. The outer shell would remain static but the bearings would rotate in circles if force is applied to them. Then, you use an algorithm to control magnets that pull and grab a rod that attaches from the top to the bottom of the bearings. The magnets could cause the device to spin. The rod would be grabbed by a new "point" which represents the magnets, and then released by the previous "point" or magnets, so on and so forth. Assuming you were able to do this, and you got the algorithm to keep up with the rod at high speeds, could a material be used to line the outer shell and the part that spins, causing the kinetic energy to turn into thermal energy, and would this be enough energy to power the device without an outside source and then some?
There are most definitely holes in this idea and I'd like to know what the engineering challenges would be to do something similar. In the end I could only see it being done as a way to showcase the windmill problem's solution without any benefit beyond that.
