4 ms·
I wonder what it is like to steer a bus with a 3 ton spinning disc inside: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precession#Torque-induced http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
by JoelSutherland 18y ago
I wonder what it is like to steer a bus with a 3 ton spinning disc inside:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precession#Torque-induced http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precession#Torque-induced
- eru 18y agoJust take two and spin them in opposite directions.
- eru 18y agoWhile I think about it: You could even install the two disks spinning horizontally, and the bus would be even more stable against tilting.
- pedalpete 18y agoI believe this is what they use in large cruise ships for stability.
- ajross 18y agoIf they're counterspinning with equal angular momentum, there won't be any gyroscopic effects at all. The precession torque from one wheel is exactly opposite to the other. The only gotcha is making sure that torques get applied equally to both wheels to keep them at the same speed, even if the enclosure itself is rotating. But I'm skeptical. Anything with moving parts has failure modes. Huge stationary flywheels as building or municipal storage devices make a lot more sense to me than putting one in a car.
- DaniFong 18y agoThis actually messes up the steering geometry. you need the steering system to be only barely in the region of stability, otherwise it takes too much effort and energy to turn. And during turns, four wheeled vehicles bank slightly, which is very important to maximize the normal force on the outside wheels to increase frictional contact with the road. In general, the dual-mass oppositely rotating flywheels work best: there's a miniature system like this in every car to even out engine vibrations.
- ph0rque 18y agoQuestion for you Danielle: are the dual-mass oppositely rotating flywheels usually side-by-side, or wheel-in-wheel? Is there any advantage to one or the other?
- DaniFong 18y agoThey're typically side by side. Generally in-wheel systems are expensive, because they're harder to manufacture and of course the flywheel system should be suspended, so you have to fit a suspension system in there as well. Space isn't at a premium in cars, and on motorscooters and motorcycles they just use a high rpm engine (10000 rpm in typical operation) to have smoother torque output.