Magnet Car

Please don't steal this idea.

A car that works on electromagnets. Let's say you have six spokes on each wheel, except instead of spokes they are magnets. They move when the wheel moves. And then on the body of the car, you have six stationary electro-magnets.

So to move the wheel forward, you could set up a computer-based timing system where when the stationary magnet is in front of a magnet, it attracts it. The wheel spins until a new magnet has spun around enough to attract it again. So through quick, controlled on-and-off-ing of the magnets, I think you could control the motion of the wheel, including braking or reverse.

But I don't know how any of this works. How do you control fast/slow? Deliver more power obviously, but I don't have the engineering knowledge to actually get this into enough detail to submit a patent. Because I really don't know how to control the amount of electricity that is flowing into an electromagnet. But I feel like if I had a good engineer friend, we could go 50/50 on this idea and make big bux.

Benefits: No moving parts. No wear and tear (or do magnets wear by using their powers? I might have heard they did but do electromagnets do that too?). No moving parts ought to mean a lot less power loss, meaning either faster engines or more efficient engines, as the market may require. Easy regenerative breaking (breaking could consist of allowing the magnets, which generate electricity when they move past each other, to generate that electricity and then to store it... and I only think this because I heard that electricity and magnets have a two-way effect where moving magnets can generate electricity but also, vice versa, electricity can power magnets).

Cons: Expensive I assume.

Challenges: I don't know how to do like, any of this stuff. Also what if the magnets are all exactly aligned, then how do I start the car moving so that I can then begin the timed magnetic pulses? I assume a tiny auxiliary engine specifically for this job would do the trick.

http://www.electromagneticcar.zoomshare.com/

Looks like a group beat you to it already. A google search also shows up some other stuff, most interestingly that VW has already begun working on it.

http://www.digitaltrends.com/cars/volkswagen-hover-car-is-this-the-future-of-transportation/

And when I say "working" I mean, "Hey some Chinese dudes told us this would be a good idea!"
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Well, there is a new accent of n00b language. It's called: Vet LUEser goes Foreign!-MegaSpy22
Those must be the pants of the gods!-Digitalpython

Neither of these links is what I'm thinking of. However, I appreciate you responding -- I was even contemplating making another topic titled "Dude magnet car, seriously".

I *suspect* a major hurdle would be that it's "easier" (that is, more efficient) to produce mechanical energy from fossil fuels than to burn fossil fuels for mechanical energy to charge a battery to power electromagnets to produce mechanical energy.

I forget which law of physics describes how conversions of energy are never 100% efficient, but googling the phrase "no perfectly efficient energy" gets this ad:

That ad posted...

Lack of Energy in Women
www.womentowomen.com/
Your low energy level is a sign of hormone imbalance. We can help.

So it sounds like the problem with your magnet car is hormone imbalance.
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Willis, it seems like every other time you post, I need to look up a word that's in the OED or Urban Dictionary but not both.
-Mimir

Well a traditional car is like, mechanical -> mechanical -> mechanical etc, there are lots of steps. Mechanical to battery to magnet may do the trick.

Also, no wear.

I don't know enough about engineering or this field of science to really contribute. I've had the idea before of a circle with magnets that perpetuates itself with some minor outside input. But this stuff is outside of my knowledge base.
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