How the Euler's disk can be used in day-to-day situations.
Euler's disk is a top that was spun in the air which can be viewed as an early example of a gyroscope.
 |
| Euler's Disk |
Euler's Disk and Razor Scooter
The razor scooter has a bearing at the bottom that spins.
While moving, this is similar to an Euler's disk. and they both use gyroscopic precession.
A professional skateboarder named Tony Hawk learned from his father John Hawk about Euler's disks.
He used them on his skateboards and made it easier for him to do tricks like 360º turns spins and ollies.
What Is Gyroscopic Precession?
If the top were tipped left or right, it would spin at a different speed.
Gyro-Globe
Euler's disk has been used in toys like the gyro-globe.
This is a toy that uses a spinning top with a gyroscope inside to keep it standing upright.
It can be connected to an electricity source and stay up for hours.
The electricity gives power to the spinning top so that it can balance itself on its axis and stay up rather than fall over.
The gyroscope inside absorbs energy from the spinning top.
If we took the gyroscopes out of the toy, then without any energy or momentum left in the spinning toy, it would fall over.
The toy is made so that it only has to have some energy as a power source, this is similar to Euler's Disk.
These toys are made in a way that when the toy is not spinning, it does not take up any space.
Can store them flat against the wall or use them as a paperweight.
When we play with the toy again, later on, it will rise off the floor without taking up any space at all like an Euler's disk.
Different Purpose Use of Euler's Disk:
Euler's Disk can be used for other purposes too because it is connected to an electricity source.
Example 1:
In a strong enough magnet or a magnet ring, we can connect the Euler's disk in a circuit with a motor or battery.
Thus when we spin the disk,
It charges up and then powers our motor or battery.
A powerful magnet could give power to our device for an extended time.
Example 2:
The Euler's disk can be used to record the speed of something, such as a car.
In this magnetic-built toy, a top is connected to an electromagnetic field.
The magnetic field connects the top to the base in one direction, and then once we turn on the magnet ring (that is connected between two poles of an electromagnet), it switches and connects it in another direction, thus our car can be spun around by its momentum (this is similar to Euler's Disk).
These applications have been used for military purposes too.
There have been uses of Euler's Disk being used as a radar system.
Example 3:
When Euler's Disk is placed between two metal plates in a tunnel or one of the plates underwater and the plates are placed at different heights off a wall with electrical cables going from the top to bottom of the tunnel.
The Euler's disk rotates so that it creates an electromagnetic field that is reflected by the metal plates and then shown on a radar screen.
An ex-army officer used his Euler's disk to detect movement, which he did at night
By shining light from his Euler's disk onto his car parked in his driveway.
It prevented him from hitting any cars while he was not home.
Example 4:
Euler's Disk has also been used in scientific experiments, such as a plane that can fly sideways.
The engineering company Avro had built planes that could fly sideways into the wind using gyroscopes.
The Euler's disk can be used similarly, to make it go sideways without using gyroscopes.
A top is laying on its side on top of four wheels.
Working Guide:
- A propeller attached to a motor goes around the rim of one wheel and one propeller attached to another motor goes around the rim of the other wheel.
- The wheels spin with each other and produce lift and they go forwards and backward like an airplane while spinning at different speeds.
- The top that is spinning on its edge can be attached to the top of a plate with an electromagnet that goes around with the rim.
- The top would go sideways without using any gyroscopes and it would also have lift when the wheels were spinning with each other.
- The momentum that goes around in a circle while spinning fast, the lift that would be coming from both propellers and electromagnetic field on one side of the top, and then two engines are powering their propellers giving power to everything else.
The Automated Coin Sorter:
There was also a robotic device called “The Automated Coin Sorter” at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) in 1964.
It is designed to do a job that is less efficient than human beings.
It can count the coins that are worth one cent, two cents, three cents, and so on.
It uses four balance wheels and four electromagnets to work out how many coins of different values there are in a box and it will count for the value of 1¢, 2¢, 3¢ or 4¢, etc.
One side has two electromagnets with the balance wheels attached to them.
On other side, it has two electromagnets with the large magnet underneath connected to an electrical cable that goes from one balance wheel to another (perhaps similar to a wheel or gyroscope).
There is also an additional mechanism that sits between the two electromagnets.
Conclusion:
Euler's disks have many uses at the moment and in the future, they can be used for many more different applications.
If you would like to read more about Euler's Disk you can view it here:
How do Euler's Discs work? - James Robertson, David Sherwin, and Mike Farrant from the University of Leeds.
1 Comments
Oh! Cool
ReplyDeleteHey! Your Valuable Comments & Suggestions are Welcome :)