Well, neither IRDa, nor ultrasonic transmissions are fast enough for LAN or VGA. And these old audio remote controllers (using ultrasonic frequencies) weren't very reliable. That being said you still have a point. You could use the same principles as in those one GBit (or more) optical LAN cards using glass fibre cables instead of copper cables ^^ But you would have to build a laser based optical communication link that can handle all the different I/O signals from a computer to its peripheries... This is a hard job, as there's no system to transmit VGA Data via a laser beam that I know of (or say: you have to invent one). As I said, this project needs very high skills in a lot of areas(physics, electronics, etc.).
you could use RF for the VGA...it has to be possible as you can buy 'portable screens' for computers that you can undock from their monitor stands.
But as I said power won't be delivered via RF so standard RF wireless control systems will be fine - VGA can be delivered over LAN (low bandwidth (50-60Mbps) but enough for a picture. But current plans are for a tft screen sat on top but thats likely to not be feasible power wise (will be investigatin laptop screen - heck maybe laptop mobo - then no prob with Laptop screen.) OK I am gonna start clearing other jobs so I can start this soon. But I assure people that I will report back even if its written off as undoable yet. (never impossible! And no great skills in Physics etc needed really IMHO But if I need to know something etc I just go an learn it is my philosophy. cheers
There's no other practical way of delivering energy wireless... How do you want to deliver the energy wireless, if not with RF?
Yes Microsoft launched a whole sytem around the idea - so spectacularly succesful I'v forgotten its name. But I'd rather a tft on board than an wireless linked screen with lower bandwidth.
be clear RF power is a dodo (for this project at least).. If I cannae do it without RF power it won't get off the ground And def not got skills or knowledge in RF power delivery and doubt I'll ever bother aquireing any soon
You may disagree, but you don't have a better idea, do you? As of now I can only think of 3 ways to deliver power wireless... 1. elecromagnetic 2. optical 3. thermal Delivering the energy the 3rd way is not going to happen, as heat is a problem for the computer itself, so I won't get into detail with that. The 2nd way includes some kind of solar cells at the computer and a light source at the base station. But you have to remember, that the efficiency of solar cells is around 20% in perfect conditions. So you at least need a 2500W light source for 500W of electrical power in the computer. No one will ever see your computer mod, as the are instantly and forever blinded, the time they look at the case... The first method includes RF/magnetic induction, etc... but that always means some kind of RF field around the computer... Why? What do you mean with "esp today". If you think that the humans realy have advanced their technology, then I have to disagree. We only have three (yes, THREE) basic ways of generating electrical power (opposed to we know more ways to generate it). That is with batteries (chemical reaction), generators (dynamos), solar cells. If you think, hey wait, what about nuclear fission/fusion... as of now no one intends to use direct energy from fission or fusion, both methods are used to heat water to drive turbine generators (giant dynamo)... As primitive we are, so proud we are about it...
Ok my last post as I have to get some work done - however you need to loosen up some of your thought channels here - as I have said the 500W idea was NOT mine - I'd guestimate 50w but that would inc if TFT is onboard. Not gonna be a Cray supercomputer my specs will be must run XP - min 800x600 res if monitor onboard (can't afford an Led projector yet nano-itx with cf HD laptop slot dvd +led projector or low power laptop mobo + display & if power for backlight too much screen can be backlit remotely from behind.. Ok def have to work ..
I already though of these options. Using a fluctuating current to switch magnet polarities create a lot of heat. I've conducted lab demos where a hollow ferromagentic cylinder was placed over a shaft which it levitated on. The cylinder experienced so called "equivant: forces around its circumference, but it was still lopsided. Placing additional weight on it straightened it out a bit, but it was still a bit crooked. I think that balancing out the case would be the biggest issue. At room temperature, the cylinder was levitated maybe an inch. At cooled temps (liq. N2 boiling temp), the ring was launched and put a dent in the ceiling. So I *KNOW* that such levitation tech. is theoretically possible, but realistically inpractical. Balance, stability, and the power requirements are what I'm concerned about. As for any rf devices... they have to be placed external to the case. So theyr'e going to HAVE to be either connected to the top, sides, or back, UNLESS you have an acrylic case. Oy, now I'm thinking about how you're going to figure out how much force is needed for each part of the case. This would be a difficult task if the case was infinitely symmetrically. If you have to compensate for heavier regions, you're going to have a VERY difficult time balancing things out. With that said, if you need help with anything, if you ask specific questions, I'll try to help. E&M wasn't too much fun for me b/c the math was too advanced for me at the time, but I'm willing to help despite my discouraging attitude. I have a BS in physics, and am in a materials science grad program (just so you know what I'm basing my opinions on, and how recent I've studied all this stuff).
I didn't mean to use eddy currents to levitate the case. Of course this method produces great heat, as this is the method used to build inductive melt ovens for metals. And of course this method uses the most power, as the magnetic field isn't only generated inside an electro magnet, but in a plain metal surface (hence requiering huge currents to build up a proper field... the more current the more heat...) Think diferent... a metal structure below a strong electromagnet. switch the magnet on and the metal will lift until it reaches the magnet. Switch the magnet off and the metal structure falls onto the ground. now install a light barrier. When the metal structure reaches the barrier, the magnet will turn of, when the structure leafes the barrier, the magnet will be turned on again. This way the structure would levitate around a point in the air. This method is just based on magnetic attraction. The method you discribed is based on the lorentz force. Trust me on that, I'm studying this stuff (Physics)
OK appreciate the input guys - but probably my fault (and unintended) but what I meant was a case that levitates as it powers up & still planning the wireless power delivery system. Never intended that the case levitates under its own power (hence magnets) will be a more the eye can decieve kind of mod rather than one that says the Apple never came near Issac (never did hit his head - but thats a non-mod topic No plans to redefine physics till next year at earliest OK back to work
When we speak about magnets, we really mean electromagnets. Nothing will levitate on its own here... So, about the power... you won't get around RF for powering... Let's assume we use a mini ITX Board with Laptop hardware (slim line DVD, 2,5" HDD) with a max power consumption of 60W and a normal TFT (around 60W according to the power supply of mine ) We need an RF output above 120W... why above? we have a weak coupling of the transmitter and reciever coil, hence we calculate with losses. Next we have to choose a frequency for our RF power, far away from any communication frequency, so we won't cause too much interference. The driving circuit for the RF transmitter must be well shielded (smaller problem, as the base station can easily be shielded by grounded electrodes), as the driving circuit will have many different frequency components, hence causing a lot of unwanted interference. We have to get the whole thing damn frequency stable. This way the chances will be better, that we get RF communication signals out of our levitating case. But maybe we can get around that issue, too. Because you want to build the monitor inside the case, we could use/modify existing optical I/O technology for the rest (that would be keyboard, mouse, LAN, Audio). For Keyboard, Mouse and Audio there are a lot of good IR solutions we can use. For LAN we have to modify an optical LAN card in a way that we won't need the optical glass fiber cables anymore and rather transmit the light signal trough a short air distance. For the lifting part of the project you'll need to do some experimenting... Find a configuration of electromagnets that will lead to a stable levitation. After that find electromagnets that'll be able to lift some kg's... And believe me, there's no other way of levitating the case without electromagnetic forces. A stream of air would be far too loud. Ultrasonic levitation systems are far too complicated and I don't know if they are even able to lift these weights. Lifting through radiation pressure (with laser light) is impossible, too... the required laser power would burn your case in microseconds. Antigravity is not an option, even if the described effect of a drop in gravity over a spinning superconductor is true, you won't get your hand on one in the required size.
try something similar to those "floating" pens? so you have a permanent magnet on the case say, and an electromagnet underneath? (or vice versa? meh). Dunno, I've been thinkin bout this for a bit as well, can't see a practical way to do it other than summit similar tbh. c.u.later
Electrojunky - ya must have swallowed a physics textbook sometime. I think I can do it - but you are basing your points on erm your own PC thinking - mini-itx and 2.5" HD + Optical drive well both the latter can be bined pronto - all it needs is nano-itx and a CF HD. aim is a PC that uses minimum of power and getting that power delivered by a non-RF wireless method. Thats the difficult part the levitation part is a walk in the park by comparison !! So the case will fit the levitation description at the cambridge Uni website. That part should be easily done. Getting say 40W (guestimate) of power across wireless will be be a challenge more physical than technology wise in my opinion - but no phsyics degrees in this free thinking Scotsmans possession so maybe proved wrong at end of day And again it needs loosening of the thought processes You say lifting KGs - feck 1 kg will be way to heavy - thats 2.2Lbs not using lead for this ya know!
allright i registered here especially for this mod, as it really caught my eye, here is my take on things: the computer is built on a circular platform with a large reflective (mirror surface) spike in the middle, this spike reflects intense beams of light from the base station into the inside of the outer ring around the spike, which is covered with solar panels, for the power transfer the rig itself is suspended in mid air in an air stream, the spiked shape and the converging outer ring should help keep it centered, much in the same way a pingpong ball can be kept in mid air by a vacume the base station would ideally be a large ring with a huge amount of airflow, while in the center there is a large array of LEDs for the power transfer, the LEDs should hardly heat up and provide a very efficient energy transfer to the solar panels, also leds focus their light more then other sources, making sure the largest amount of the power gets to the floating rig, the dead zone in the airflow the center led array causes should help it stabilize now i know this isnt very feasible, but the leds should make light power doable, maybe lenses would be a nice idea too, and this principle of levitation works (the actual design of the midle spike and outer rim i sorta stole from a ground laser powered spacecraft design, where the solar panels were replaced by a combustion chamber, where the laser superheats air to provide thrust) the largest problem would be the airflow i think, even if you use all laptop parts you are looking at keeping at least 4-5 pounds airborn, unless you put the aerospike platform in a closed tube there is no way you could do this with an acceptable of wind in the room its a very nice idea this mod, but it will be very hard, not only because you need signals (you could theoreticly controll it using remote desktop and Wlan, reducing I/O to a single Wlan connection, but the need for a second PC would make the leviathon kinda of redundant) but also because of the EM interference maglev would put out all in all, succes, and do keep us posted with any progress and Lev experiments, i love this idea!
Actually been going along those lines since Bindibagi started my thought processes into overdrive.. But whilst electromagnets could be the suspenders (oe err) I want to keep power used to a minimum so unless they prove abs eseential they are unlikely to be used. Almost regret the wireless power delivery as otherwise it would be a "Project for May" now its my "Oclockers next birthday project!" - gives me until April 24th 2007 to admit defeat or float my boat !
Well def not the way I plan to levitate it - but WOW nice out of the box thinking there I remember the science exhibits I saw had a beach ball that hovers in a jetstream sounds too noisy for my ideas - but I am only planning a proves my theory kind of mod not an everyday used PC.my aims are a PC that runs XP - displays on a display (hopefully part or on levitated case - but may have to be moved external ) the power transfer method may involve butchering some hardware and part of the butchered hardware thats redundant could be used to display information with the help of some LEDs .. Part of your design is accurate re: my current thinking. OK back to my work (modding something in Kitchen that no one would believe (not PC related )
The problem with levitation through airflow is the intense noise generated by the flowing air... The problem with solar cells is the incredible low efficiency (20%)... And if 1kg is too heavy for you, you definetly won't get a TFT inside the case, let alone the whole stuff for a solar cell power supply (you need the cells and a converter). Oh, I didn't eat a physics book... it's just that I'm studying physics...
