True, photovoltaics absorb EM energy and convert it to electricity. BUT you can't just use just any light source. The EM wavelength is not necessarily in the visual spectrum. Certain wavelengths of solar light are used, and these might not be reproducable in a projector's lamp. The higher efficiency solar cells use tiered arrays where different wavelengths are able to be absorbed and utilized for electricity conversion. Porting light to solar cells via fiber optics, will not yield the intensity you need for decent conversion. You need a strong diffuse intensity in order to reach as large a solar panel surface area as possible. LoL, so you FINALLY agree with what I've been saying this whole time!! Oh, and to shield microwaves, you need metallic shielding. Sure there are some types of glass which incorporate shielding while remaining transparent, but they're typically used for xray diffractometers. In other words, limited market = probably high cost. Metal reflects EM waves, so the microwaves would bounce around like crazy. The energy would end up backflowing to the emitter and burn it out. Think about it. When you put something into the microwave to heat it up, your food (or soon to be destroyed cd!) heats up. The transferred energy must come from somewhere. If there's no outlet for it to be converted to heat, then the increasing intensity will build up until the circuitry is burned out or something. Honestly, I'm not quite sure what would happen, I only know that it's bad bad BAD. Plus if it's onshielded, you'd get a nasty sunburn type of injury. Microwaves vibrate water molecules, and the increased vibrations are interpretted as thermal energy, and so, the energized water molecules are what actually heats up the food. As for gyroscopes, they *could* be utilized in stabilizing a floating computer, but the steps involved in implementing such components makes it too impractical. The only way I can see airpressure being utilized here, is in the form of pneumatic cylinders. There are sets used for robotics applications for a cost of about $200, so I imagine piece by piece it could be a bit cheaper. But that's not goint to lead to a self-contained wireless levitating computer. I think what we should do is find the approximate weight of such a computer, and its dimensions/shape. The system has to be as symmetrical as possible, preferably with the center of mass falling along a vertical axis oriented throught the center of the chassis.
I do realise I have a learning curve to climb - but whilst some very interesting ideas in this thread I do plan a pc that levitates on startup then floats free. I don't plan a PC that levitates itself etc. Gonna order some parts tomorrow and find time to start experimenting later in week. Many thanks for your posts as insightful! Last post on this thread for a wee while but whilst I have NO plans to use the super magnets they sell - wow could they be fun (saftey first of course) http://unitednuclear.com/magnets.htm Oh and I didn't say Fibre Optics? No plans to use fibre optics - but as ya mentioned them maybe a fibre optic xmas tree on top would be nice ??
I do understand it correctly though, you want there to be a "base station" which assists in floating the computer, right? Also, the sie you linked to scares me. They sell uranium?? Even if they didn't have that, potassium and sodium are pretty dangerous as well. What parts are you ordering??
Just some neo magnets, led light pipes and if I can find some that are suitable solar panels.. Have all somewhere in what was my workshop but now buried deep amongst the junk there now. Easier to order new..
I think you should get one of those free forums to dedicate to this project there are just too many complex elements to disscuss in a single thread like this and if the thread keeps growing like this it will be impossible to follow
solar panels and wavelength... the nearest wavelength to UV wins... The light is needed to free some electrons, the more energy the light has, the better... hence UV is your choice... But solar panels aren't suitable at all... RF or a free air transformer is required... microwaves are too dangerous. btw. if you use the microwaves to power the computer, the microwaves will be mostly absorbed, not reflected into open space...
UV wouldnt be a terribly good idea either, as you are sure to have some light leak around into the room now consider that with a UV radiating rig next to you, it would be like full time tanning bed, or hole-in-the-ozone-layer sunrays....
Just prop some chickens next to it and wait for them to cook, or stare at it until you have skin cancer.
LoL, you can't cook a chicken with a UV light. Plus, how does staring at it cause skin cancer!!! Hehe, just poking a little fun.
well my point was just that having a 200-400 watt UV light running a few hours a day might not be the best idea without shielding yourself from it..
True, not to mention the fact that unless it was a really focused bulb, a lot of the intensity would just be wasted.
Yes agreed - but can I add that my project never was intended to use UV, 1/2 a KW, RF power etc - maybe a well focused candle or two would generate some power
There's in fact another Method to generate great amounts of power in a more or less wireless way... There are ways to genereate electrical energy through a temperature difference. If you have a peltier element laying around you can test it yourself! Normally a peltier element generates a temperature difference between its two sides. If you apply a temperature difference (heating one side, while cooling the other) you can measure electrical energy generated by that temperature difference. You would be able to generate enough power with this technology, but you'll also have to find a way to keep away the heat of a bunsen burner from your hardware...
Actually, wireless power through RF would be easy. Assuming it rises 5mm, the air gap I used for my wireless charging system, with small (less than a centimatre cubed) inductors, I managed to get 400mA at 4V. This ws powered by a 12V power pack at 0.5A. You are effectively getting 1.5W already. Firstly, input voltage and output voltage scale linearly (Or close enough to be linear) So use a 36V power suppy. Then you will have 1.5W. So you need about 50 pairs of inductors. This sounds hard, but the ones I used were salvaged, unmatched ones, so using better, possibly hand made ones, it is easily feasible. If you want a gap of more than 50mm, just add more inductors. I managed to get 12V at about 50mA at 8cm, using a different inductor. So its feasible, and not that hard. Levitating, I don't know. It will be hard, but what a project it would be if it worked. I think, if you put down some serious plans, companies will sponser you. SO good luck, and don't give up.
See !! You are thinking outside the box and came up with an idea that sounds very promising After all heatsinks, peltiers and infra red heat lamps are easily sourced - what would make it easier to implement is if infra-red can be focused in in the same way visible light can - I'd presume it can but shall investigate the idea more later.
Levitation of the case is not something I have any doubts about - but thats just using available technology (on ebay!). But I plan to make a case that levitaes when power to the pc is switched on - what I am not planning is a case that levitates itself - AFAIK that's technology that is not possible with any available technology (but defy anyone to prove its impossible!) But the inductor idea does sound feasible again will investigate more when I get my health problems sorted..
Well... I had this idea all the time (in one of my previous posts i mentioned 3 methods for energy transfer, one was thermal and I said I won't go into detail, because of the heat problems for the hardware).. It just wasn't time to tell you, yet...
