Draw a vertical line through the axle, dividing the machine into left and right halves. For the device to turn and keep turning, say clockwise, the right half has got to be heavier than the left half. Or more correctly, the _moment_ has to be greater. How do we find the moments for this simple system where all the forces are due to gravity and act downward? You take the horizontal distance from the centerline to the weight, and multiply this distance by the weight. Assign "positive" distance to the right half weights and "negative" distance to the left half weights. Add up all the individual moments. What is the result? For the wheel to keep turning clockwise the total moment computed this way must be positive, for every position of the wheel around the cycle.

The Principle of moments is if an object is balanced then the sum of the clockwise moments about a pivot is equal to the sum of the anticlockwise moments about the same pivot.

From the Wiki.

Gwandau, you are not too far from Burt Rutan's model.  You may want to revisit it.

Rutan's is not very far from Bessler's, for that matter.  Aside from liquid weights, and hydraulic weight shifting, the differences are rather minimal.


Blessings, guys.




TS

Gwandau
I have a few more days till My shop is usable.The funny thing about this wheel..
It would NEVER free wheel,[will save countless spindown Fussing hrs] If you get it to move at all ...it should Cycle ?
 
Well that and your friend saying it worked !
 
Funny you mentioned Toy.....
One of the things I'll be doing in my new shop is building Specialty furniture
Which I design for children with special needs to enhance their Quality of life.
 
A Toy.puzzle like this For a child with aspergers syndrome or Autism would probably lead to a breakthru in a working Gravity wheel.
 
I have been totally amazed by some of these boys and their grasp of  Math and the "physical" world around them.
 

Chet,
 
I just have to deviate a bit from the topic when you expressed your passionate devotion to help these kids.
 
I had a period in my life when I worked with both Asbergers and the total opposite, the ADHD, and even on one occasion I was engaged in helping a young boy with extreme CD to learn the magic of empathy. He was a unique very hard diagnosed pre-psychopatic young boy who made all the psychiatrists nervous when asked to perform a diagnosis since he really did not fit into any of the frames.
 
I came to understand that all these labels put on the kids were nothing but an attempt to categorize a field of behavioural differences actually quite far beyond our full ability to grasp. As a matter of fact I derived an insight in the matter that I tried to present to the psychiatrists and psychologists who referred my theory to something suggested in the sixties, but which never seemed to become thoroughly investigated at that time.
 
I found a correlation between each deviation of behaviour with a certain age before seven. It was like the kid somehow was interrupted in its normal pace of conceptual growth, making next step in it's developement erronous due to lack of needed input gained in the childs earlier phase of conceptual growth. You know, all kids at a certain age are totally lacking empathy, it is just not ready for that step, and if the surrounding in combination with its own inherited unability to evolve is below a critical level, the child won't be able to take next step in its mental growth.
 
It all fits together, and I really don't understand that this hasn't been more studied in depth. Behavioural science know that if an infant does not get any light the first weeks after birth, it stays blind for the rest of it's life. The "window" of input is only open a very limited period of time, and I am convinced this applies to all the other phases in the mental growth of a child. Adding to this is the frequent situation of the parents being deficient in giving the kids proper input, since many times they themselves has some similar issues, even if only minor.
 
As you suggest, a child with Asbergers syndrome is the perfect explorer in areas where the amount of alternative parameters gets overwhelming for us "normal" persons. But I think the combination of a supervising guy with a little more creative mindset would be needed in helping an Asberger to decide in which direction to take.
 
I highly regard your devotion to these kids and even if it may be quite taxing at times, it is a rewarding occupation in the long run. Especially kids with Asbergers syndrome have abilities that could be highly beneficial to society if stimulated correctly.
 
You have a big heart Chet, that is very obvious.
 
Best,
 
Gwandau
 

Gwandau
Things can happen around us that change the course of our lives,I just try to pay attention and do the right thing.
 
This Most Recent Switch in my lifes work has come after some very ruff and trying times , I spent the last year or more helping a friend Run a private hospital for addicts...Very hard on the mind and ruff on my wife [away for weeks at a time ].I came right up against that wall of exhaustion ,completely wooped.

Well I had very good results with My Special needs Furniture several years back but My heart was not in it ,for very selfish reasons [Extremely depressing  work for me] However after spending this time at the Hospital I received a whole new perspective .
I am not sure I will be able to stay away from helping at the hospital
However My wife thinks its a good idea to work at home for now [a very good idea].
 
An awful lot of what you said about aspergers is Oh so true....

 
Thx
Chet
Ps
And Thx To TechStuff also
 
 

Gwandau
Thank you for the insight,I would like a nice Sandy Beach [for at least 20 minutes!:,}
 
RE the Wheel
Sometimes a call to an old Friends family is quite rewarding.Perhaps he had some photos of this Wheel laying around ?
 
On another note..
Whatcha mean "double decker"....{not a bus??]
 
Chet
 
 
 
 

Gwandau
Don't know why I only see a blank box for your Pic?
Probably this Junky Computor I use when I'm home. Seeing as how I'll actually be spending some time at home now ,I will be updating...
 
I Suppose I had that Gypsy Travel Bug Too,   some time I will tell you How I modified a greyhound Bus For business[good excuse] .and used it to do engineering seminars In NYC and surrounding areas.[Had "too" much Fun ]
 
I Have some "resources" in your country?Maybe Closer to the "tire shop".
?
Thx
Chet
 
 
 

Any thoughts on this?

Yes, see here.

Regards