More for Less: Pulse Motor Efficiency Concepts

Papa Bale welcomes viewers and explains he's doing experiments with his new setup. Everything is going surprisingly far considering how little energy he's putting into it. He has no motors running — he's not trying to make a motor right now, though he has a motor down there with two cords that produce electricity when spun. What he really wants to show is how little energy he needs to put in to get motion out. He puts a disc on top of another and gives it a tiny flick with his finger. The disc is floating on the one below it and being pushed up by three outside magnets. He notes that the first attempt was lackluster because the disc was heavier than before. He tries again, making sure the magnets are right. With just a little flick, the disc spins and wobbles, but he's thinking that when he gets three more donut magnets, the wobble will balance out. He's not looking for perpetual motion — he's looking to see how many times it goes around with each flick. He explains there's no bearings because a quarter-inch hole with a quarter-inch pole leaves no room for a bearing. He demonstrates how a tiny flick makes the disc spin for a surprisingly long time. When he latches the two discs together, there's more friction on the pole, but the spin is even more sustained. He mentions his best record was eight minutes and thirty-four seconds with a plain disc setup. He discusses using six electromagnets and a breadboard to pulse them, using infrared transmitters and receivers to track spins and trigger the magnets. He doesn't know how to make them pulse yet but is willing to learn. He talks about cyclotron concepts — getting discs to cycle around instead of using steel balls. He has two 250-pound magnets and is excited about the possibilities. He thanks viewers and says goodnight.