Mag Lev (Stabilized)

This is a small sculpture displaying two ways of achieving magnetic levitation using "Magnetic Saddle Points". Using multiple saddle points you only need to stabilize in one dimention which allows interesting motion in the other two.

The videos show the range of freedom vs. capture, and the unique motion achievable with mag lev.

The base is an old oak cutting board. The floating block is pine, and the floating dowel is hardwood. The base has 14 magnets imbeded and two exposed. The block has magnets at each corner, and the dowel has magnets imbeded in the ends.

 

Basic Motion
(6Mb .mov)

Set up
(3Mb .mov)

The Prototype
(8Mb .mov)
<b>Small sculpture with two layers of magnetic levitation (stabilized)</b>
Stabilized Mag Lev
<b>It sits on the mantle in our livingroom</b>
Living room Mag Lev
<b>Good use for an old oak cutting board. </b>
Three layers
<b>A length of thread is attached to each floating piece. </b>
String Stablized
<b>You 'tune' the strings like a fiddle to achieve ballance</b>
Tuning
<b>This is the rough prototype with the magnets exposed</b>
Prototype
<b>Here I am working on the prototype</b>
In the LaBORatory



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