Gyroscopes? Don't got to show no steenkin Gyroscopes!

Post #19,077 by Ashton 11/20/01 11:55:57 PM Reply	Gyroscopes? Don't got to show no steenkin Gyroscopes! What mean? Rake and trail of forks is the geometry and those #s certainly affect the 'handling' or progressive feel as the angle is increased; CG and the balance of centripetal / centrifugal forces - depending on the sharpness of the turn and the \ufffd coeff. of the tires (tyres): sets the angle of lean. Easily drawn with the outward --> being the CG (centrif.) force line. At ground, the <-- arrow is the (centrip.) force line of traction F~\ufffdN. Raise/lower the mass til these are equal and opposite. (Else one falls off) No? yeah with modrin techno-mixtures, you can exceed 1.0 for \ufffd thru a 'gearing' contact/stickiness. N=normal force vector; gravity assumed. Guess I don't see much place for worrying too much about precession and such re wheel rotation - til well over the ton (though you Could notice the rocking-couple of a BMW opposed twin, on blipping the throttle hard in a turn, or at idle). Still, the wheels (or a vert. twin's rotating bits) have never seemed germane; can only imagine they would, if the rim were made of iron (definitely if Uranium ;-). On WATER - what do with those opposing -->s ? What's \ufffd like for a pontoon? Still and all - it sounds doable once you'd unlearned all your road instincts (Hah!) And.. all you Ought to get is wet if - OK CRC: make three :-\ufffd Merlin Engine Works
Post #19,081 by Ric Locke 11/21/01 12:27:40 AM Reply	Don't got to show no steenkin Gyroscopes! Shoo, Ash. Did the experiment with a bicycle once [had been reading science fiction -- remember Commodore Grimes?] Clamp bike frame in vise with front wheel off the ground and free; spin wheel, then rotate handlebars. Bike leans! Happens the precession couple is just right to help get the thing leaned over. Nifty, wot? -- hard to believe a two-wheeler [well, awright, a simulation] would work right without that force in the mix. And my son's Rice Rocket has a front wheel that's, well, heavy. Rubber tough enough for tires will do that. Plenty of gyro-thingies without needing RPMs in four digits. But for Christian's machine -- front "ski" needs sortofakindofa complex shape, IMO -- relatively flat in front, descending to a deep V in back; good place for the intake of the water jet, if a good flexible coupling can be found. Back one a little bigger -- idea is, front ski is only partially touching; you want the area in water contact to have the same bike mass / square whatever on both skis. Rear needs a pretty deep skeg, I think. -- and steering won't be by the handlebars; this is gonna be a "lean-only" machine, more like a hang glider than a bike. Let the front ski move against a spring for turns, but it still needs handlebars for the coolness. Not to hard I think to hide enough voids in the frame that it barely floats. With engine air intake well elevated ["swimming jeep" :-) ] it at least doesn't go full fathom five with each wipeout. Three, at least, Christian. This is sounding like more fun all the time. Need to get details nailed down, PERT chart properly colored in for delivery next Memorial Day [traditional beginning of summer here in the Untied Snakes..] Regards, Ric
Post #19,084 by Ashton 11/21/01 1:15:31 AM Reply	Still a gnat or two, but.. Umm - motorcycle mass (of relevant objects) vs those toy bicycles OK? And the angle of lean (however aided or abetted by pesky torque) is still: set by rider on a motorcycle (or bike) er 'commanding' the angle of lean via contrary force on handlebars, positioning body for correct CG height! Checkout Isle of Man -like positions and rapid body shifting, for illustration. Good thoughts on the propulsion, though steering and powering simultaneously + above matters = time to consult the Cartercopter team for weekend duty? I can't see much way to do the usual prop drive w/o some paraplegic worries and other problems of keeping the sucker in water. Tractor treads a la Pelton water wheel? But what I really want Catch Rocketman? Yeah... rocket backpack + asbestos pants and nice control via say embedded-Linux and my 'palm squeezing' control. Who needs a space-frame? Solid-fuel accessory for those long cruises (throttleable via \ufffd means natch). All the stuff's there - what are we, a buncha Wimps? Ashton Mitty Tesla

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