> As for the minato wheel I have been observing the same type of phenomenon
> on one of my own projects. Put 3 or 4 magnets on a free spinning disk about
> 6" in diameter.Use rectangular magnets angled slightly inward and the same
> pole facing out.Now take another magnet and putting like poles together use
> this force to rotate the disk.Now if you time moving the handheld magnet in
> and out in time with the magnets comming around you will be able to get the
> disc up to a resonable speed.Soon you will notice how little you have to
> move the hand magnet to maintain this speed.I would describe it as a little
> jiggle.Now the hard part is building a mechanical link to impart this jiggle
> automatically.I have tried cams levers ramps and haven't figured it out
> yet.All things considered I think the Gary motor is where development should
> be concentrated.
>
> Woody
>
Maybe you could mount the handheld magnet on a moving base drived by a little
electric motor.
That moving base movement could be made phased with the disk rotation,
i.e, the base moving speed increases with the disk speed rotation.
On another approach, the handheld magnet could be suspended on a spring.
When the disk turns, the disk magnets attract or repel the spring suspended
magnet, making it oscillate. I bet this oscilation have a resonating point, at
which the disk rotation is sustained.
Just brainstorming ...
---Marcelo Puhlmark@plug-in.com.br