[shadow67]

hey its my first time here i wanted to tell you that i am making a working model of a maglev train and i want to know if this idea could make it run forward without and physical means.

1. place a ceramic latch magnet behind the train and have some type of thin slice of wood board with another magnet on it. at the ends of this slice of wood will be two ropes attached with wheels which will slide over the grove at the sides of the platform the ropes will be turned by two motors at the end of the track. this magnet will costantly repel the other magnet hence pushing it in front.

2. please help i have already made the train by 1/4" of styrofoam and it slides well when pushed with hands. it iis due in 11 days so please help.

[GAHD]

er, can you post something a bit more coherant? I'd like to help but yourquestion is poorly framed. try adding diagrams, or pictures They can be turned in too.

[shadow67]

sorry but what i wanted to say is that i am building a working model of a maglev train for our high school project. our instructor told me that if you are making a maglev train it should be able to move on its own. I did some research on the internet and i visited this site where the tracks are simply two magnet strips, each measuring about 24" long, 1/2" wide, 1/8" thick, with their North side facing up.They are placed about 1/8" in from the edges of a piece of 3/4" thick wood board (with a white melamine surface) base, 24" long and 4" wide. Ends and a back wall are attached to the base, about 3" tall. The front of the base has a Plexiglas wall attached to it, so that you can see the train platform float above the tracks. the train is made of foam-core board, 3 and 7/8" wide by 6" long and 1/4" thick. On the bottom is a pair of magnet strips, about 6" long, 1/2" wide, 1/4" thick, with their North side facing down. They are placed about 1/8" in from the side edges.

i already fixed the apparatus and it floats well. but the only thing is that i am not being able to make it move forward on its own.
in the above site i mentioned the train has a piece of teflon tape attached to its ends for smooth sliding. i came up with another idea that if you place two magnet strips in the sides it will repel each other and stay in the centre. look at this diagram where ] and [ represents magnets attached at the sides of guide rails and the sides of the train. where ----- represents the track where ,M represents the train and where ** represents the magnets on the bottom of the train and the bottom of the track.

] [MMM] [
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so the there is repulsion from all sides to keep the train directly levitating in the centre without touching the guide rails. so i wanted to know which one will work better the method given in that site or this method. i also thought of a method to run the train on its own . it goes like this according to that site mentioned above two (2) ceraic latch magnets are placed on both the sides of the train. for it to act like a spring. what if i take another bar magnet with same the same polar ends facing each other for eg. N and N . once i move the bar magnet towards that ceramiic latch magnet placed on both sides it will create a repulsion and will move the train forward. what i wanted to know is how can we make the bar magnet move towards the train without using my hands. please help!!!

[InfiniteNow]

It sounds like you have a really good setup already. My question is how do you get the magnets in the "track area" to move. From what I've read, maglev trains move forward because the track is made of electromagnets which are turned on and off selectively.

So, in position 1 of the track, the magnets are off, but in position 2 they are on, so the train moves toward position 2. Once the train reaches position 2, the magnets in position 3 are turned on, and position 2 turned off. When the train reaches position 3, the magnets in position 3 are turned off, and the magnets in position 4 are turned on... and on and on. So, on/off on/off down the track.

Since you are using actual magnets, you cannot turn them off. So, you're trying to have a magnet, in essence, behind the train pushing it forward, and need to figure out how to get that magnet to move. It's a heck of a setup, but I'm really not sure how you could do this without using your hands or some similar item.

I am going to need to appeal to our other members and hope they have an idea, cause I'm drawing a blank.

Is it too late to use an electromagnet? Then, you could at least cut the power in certain sections during key times... Cutting power would be ideal... cut the power, eliminate the magnetic field...

[shadow67]

how do i know which side of the electromagnet is north and which side is south? and i need some thing according to high school standard. i was thinking of a bar with a magnet in the centre which repels the train and thiis bar is pulled by two ropes at each end which is pulled by a motor from the next end ( two motors at each end ) or if you have any other ideas.

[InfiniteNow]

OFFTOPIC:
Shadow,
You can see a PM by going to User CP (top left area of the page) and click "List Messages." They remain there even if you don't see them as a popup.

[shadow67]

do you have any other bright ideas that can propell the train forward. can someone also please tell me does incrreasing the magnet width or lenght increase its magnetic strength.

[max4236]

Maybe you could make a pusher section on the track with a converor belt made with repelling or pulling magnets powered by a motor. Make the track itself move for that section. It could give the train just enough energy to go around the track once. Then when the train comes back around it gives the train another push. So the train keeps going in a continous loop. Or you could put two pusher sections on either ends of the track and have the train go back and forth from one end to the other. Some maglev trains start out with drive wheels on the track until the train picks up enough speed then the drive wheels retract up like landing gear and then the train coasts while it levitates. What kind of track do you have set up?

[shadow67]

i have a simple vertical track with magnets repelling from underneath and sides. PS read upper threads posted by me. by the way where dou you get these convertor belts?
i just want it to move back and forth. but how do you make the train move in any curved motion because i have straight, long magnets. apart from the moving train, i have decided to make two stations you know from where it starts and ends and vice versa. can you tell me any modifications i can do concerning the stations?

[max4236]

Sorry I wasn't sure if you had the track loop back around.  
If you want it to curve you have to tilt the track, bank 
around a bend like on a freeway.  <-/  or  \->     

I meant a conveyor belt.   
/======>=>=======\
|(O)          (O)|  
\=======<=<======/  
= big flat rubber band attatched to pulleys driven by a fast motor.
or a car belt, bike inner tube
                  <MMMMMM>    
=====>=>====-----------------===<=<=====
=====<=<====                 ===>=>===== 
station1                     station2

If you had two motors for each conveyor belt you could control
the train launching and breaking by two switches or automate 
them in a display mode.  Something like that. 

Or you could put a pair of conveyor belts on either side 
of the train where the guide rails are.  

Maybe you want to do something more high tech with an 
electromagnetic coil launcher at each station.  
Or an air rocket.

I like the magnetic guide rail idea, cool.
 ] [MMM] [
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