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1 December 2024 12:20
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Welcome to the gyroscope forum. If you have a question about gyroscopes in general,
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Question |
| Asked by: |
L. Nichols |
| Subject: |
what is the result of accelerating the rotor spin after steady-state precession is reached? |
| Question: |
so i'm a senior in mechanical engineering, and for my thesis i'm trying to design a kinetic sculpture that demonstrates gyroscopic precession. i realize that due to friction losses around the precessional pivot point, the gyroscope will begin to droop, i.e. the angle will change. as i want this to be something that can run for long periods of time, i want to incorporate some sort of control system to counter this. because i want this to be something that's obviously not just driven in a circle, but instead clearly precessing, i want to avoid just applying a torque in the direction of precession. i realize that doing that would just be inducing precession in the vertical plane, but that wouldn't be apparent to the unknowing viewer. so instead, i'm trying to come up with another solution.
would accelerating the rotor change the angle?
or do any of you have any other suggestions as to how to keep the arm of the gyro more or less level? some droop and overshoot are acceptable.
i would really really really appreciate any help on this. even suggestions as to where i could look - textbooks, websites, people to ask, etc. none of the courses here in mechE reall cover gyroscopes too well, and i don't really know any professors here who specialize in gyroscopic motion.
cheers
-Laura |
| Date: |
16 June 2005
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Answers (Ordered by Date)
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| Answer: |
Nitro MacMad - 23/06/2005 23:13:02
| | | Dear Laura Nichols,
Nice idea. I would suggest a rotating wheel with a rubber tyre or other grippy coating on the outer rim arranged on the base so that the inevitable increasing angle of droop causes the gyro’s cage to touch the rotating wheel and be accelerated horizontally.
This horizontal acceleration will, I am sure you know, be precessed into a vertical lift leaving the gyro to precess under gravity once more until the droop, from precessed friction on the horizontal plane, causes it to touch the rotating wheel again. With care the horizontal accelerating wheel could be largely concealed. If the powered gyro is partially counterbalanced, to extend precession, and concealed in some strange shaped housing I feel you could be onto a winner.
Accelerating the gyro’s rotor will have no slowing, or other, effect on the droop of the precessing gyro. An increase in gyro spin speed only increases the amount of force a given gyro can precess.
Good luck and let us know how it goes.
Kind regards
NM
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