On 24/08/2020 10:05, Clive Arthur wrote:
On 24/08/2020 02:36, wrote:
On Sunday, 23 August 2020 12:34:19 UTC+1, Clive Arthur wrote:
On 23/08/2020 12:13, N_Cook wrote:

snip


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fireless_locomotive


Don't know about locomotives , but for road transport ,they came to an
abrupt abondonment. All is fine until there is an accident. The
flywheel
dislodges and continues like a much more energetic panjanderam,
demolishing everyone and everything in its very long path.

These never caught on either...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyro_monorail

too many errors

...but it doesn't con men trying...

https://www.litmotors.com/

what's con about that?

The big issue people have with gyro balancing is that if things go
wrong, stability is lost & carnage results. And IRL things go wrong &
lawyers get greedy.


NT

The con is that, while it can balance, it can only be an impractical
novelty, and I'm sure that Daniel Kim (Lit Motors owner) knows that. All
these years and you just get a few seconds of video, usually without
sound and without tripod. It's noisy - maybe that could be overcome -
but it's constantly rocking about it's balance point, which can't be.

The gyros can only supply one-way torque for a limited time
(newton-metre-seconds?) before they hit their 'end-stops', no way round
that, so to balance, the thing has to actively push against a side force
so that its weight counteracts it. In the large Brennan prototype for
example, as the passengers move to one side, the car tips sideways the
other way to maintain balance.

If you push on it with a finger, it will actively push you back, I mean
actually move you back so that its weight balances against your finger.
Of course, that's how it automatically leans into a curve.

Imagine that in traffic with constant changing blustery side winds.
Imagine one stationary near a solid object and trying to squeeze past -
it would crush you.

I think Kim revived the idea with a view to getting lots of investment
and advance orders, he seems to have disappeared.

An interesting subject though. There have been a few prototype
vehicles, mostly very old, and Ford experimented with their 'Gyron'.
There are some youtube videos of home made toys using the idea, I think
a properly made say OO scale monorail would be fun, and maybe some sort
of fairground ride - the idea of using a wire rope as a bridge is
appealing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Gyron
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyrocar


Wasn't there a totally above the rail (no counterweights below)
gyro-stabilised monorail system somewhere, Ireland ISTR?


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