Michael Daly writes: > From: "robert werner" <cryocycle_at_hotmail.com> > >> My daughter and I are thinking of doing a science fair project on gyroscopic >> stabalization of kayaks. We are building small models for this and testing >> them in a wave tank. Has anyone ever done this before or have any ideas if >> it would work? > This assumes a single gyro wheel. If you want to counteract this, you > can add another wheel that will stabilize it against this rolling, > say by mounting a wheel on an axis that runs athwartships. With two > gyros, you'll still get precessional effects (yaw). Add a third, > mutually perpendicular wheel and you get the equivalent of an > inertial guidance system in which the precession of each wheel is > countered by another wheel. The trick is to create three wheels > that will fit into the kayak with sufficient angular inertia to > have an effect and not make the kayak too heavy. > > I would say that if you could show the precession problem with one > wheel (pitch causes roll) and explain it, this would be a reasonable > project. Showing that three wheels solves this (and demonstrating > it is or is not feasible) would be a super project. Just figuring > out how big a gyroscope is needed for a kayak is pretty fancy stuff > for high school! > > Mike > (Who spent a year teaching high school physics while in grad school) My biggest concern would be that if the boat ever does move from perfectly vertical it would then try and stay in it's new angle. If you capsize it would be a real pain to flip back up. I wonder whether it would be better to solidly mount the gyros or if it would be better to do some sort of soft mount with rubber or possibly even small shock absorbers to allow the boat some movement while still affecting the stability. Dave (Who has the greatest respect for physics teacher who make it fun) *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Dave wrote: >My biggest concern would be that if the boat ever does move from perfectly >vertical it would then try and stay in it's new angle. If you capsize it >would be a real pain to flip back up. G'Day, If the gyroscpe is rotated with an electric motor then it could be switched off before rolling - but its still going to be too heavy to roll - use water as the mass to fill the rotator and pump it out for the roll - or switch the gyros in appropriate sequence for an automatic roll! Is there a design lesson from bicycles which are gyroscopically balanced and easy to steer? Thanks Michael for the lucid explanation!! and Robert and Margo for the fascinating thread! All the best PeterO *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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