(electro)mechanical spacetime simulator? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 11, 2021, 01:34:23 am
content: So I was thinking about space time warpage (the bed sheet bowing ball example) and I got annoyed because its almost like conic sections, the analogy you see is just a cross section, and it is essentially an absolute value, since you only see the deflection one way. There are 3d drawings of the issue, I posted an example of one that seems like it did the best job for my imagination based on a short study of various images.Now I got to thinking that is starting to look like bed springs. If you made a lattice, that is a matrix of magnetic balls, joined by (non or semi magnetic) springs on all 6 sides, to make a structure, and you shoved a magnet on a stick in there, a powerful one, it seems like it would kind of start to represent the three dimensional drawings.Does any machine like this exist? I assume maybe just the properties of magnetism make it too weak to show such a phenomena given gravity and all the friction and spring tightness's, needing too high a magnetic field strength that is not practical. Not necessarily normal helix springs, but perhaps even springs that have nonlinear spring constants and designed in such a way to better suit the simulation.I find it interesting because with a complex array of reflection analyzers (TDR), you could measure the spring extension lenght to feed numbers related to spacetime into an analog or semi analog computers, if it formed a cubic resistor network that can be analyzed (in terms of equivalent circuit).

author: AlbertL
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 13, 2021, 07:40:48 pm
content: "The Outer Limits" had it figured out back in 1964!

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 27, 2021, 09:15:42 pm
content: lol that might have some EMI problems too, 125 motors might make a dev board cry, that might need a industrial controller. 'Still not a bad project IMOperhaps an application for piezomotors since you can make the face of the thing a thick ass PCB, not sure if gearbox required

author: Infraviolet
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 28, 2021, 12:00:45 am
content: It wouldn't be mechanical, but what about doing it with a grid of LEDs and light sensors, plus a reflective or emitting ball acting as your mass. Hae light intensity varied to show the amount of deviation from flat space time, each LED could either be controlled from a microcontroller with some PWM drivers reading all the sensors, or each LED could be connected to the sensor beside it by decentralsied analogue circuitry to control its birghtness in response to the proximity of the mass.

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 07, 2021, 05:56:01 pm
content: given the high motor requirement, I wonder if you can use something from old CD drives or hard drives or floppy drives that might be available cheap, since this is already complicated, with tons of motors, perhaps the complex drive system is not the problem since boards would have to be made anyway for 125 motors.. you definatly would want to figure out how to modularize that.since the hard drive spindle motor is kinda PCB friendly, do you think those would work? Big board with pins that has little motor boards go into it chessboard style. Then if one burns out it can be removed from the main board and replaced.fyi I got this idea because I rewatched the re imaged battlestar galactica series, which has a focus on 'lower tech' stuff, and I was kind of imagining what that would entail, the idea of one of battlestar staff fooling around with such a mechanical contraption seemed amusing, given that normally in scifi GR related things seem to have legions of white collar IT personnel to deal with 'warp mathematics'... but humor aside when you start talking about bedsheets and bowling balls trying to explain physics it gets really really confusing and old. many people just can't imagine a 3d space being explained as a 'bedsheet'. And I know for sure, from education, some of the few things I renember are the models/prototypes, etc.. you never forget how devices work when you build a mockup, specifically motors. I forgot coding projects already but I still remember cardboard structures etc.

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 07, 2021, 07:47:15 pm
content: well I got to thinking, there is no higher quality motor then a hard drive motor, and maybe... if you take laptop hard drives apart, the mechanical ones, they are quite small and maybe it would be enough to just use hard drives that are next to each other on a plane, with a hacked in control system. You can probobly cut parts of it off to make it a square rather then a rectangle too.Maybe thats a good direct solution to the motors that covers cost, and how to control one is established on line already.I cut up a old hard drive to put a 2.5 inch drive in a 3.5 inch bay without having to buy an adapter, maybe old drives can be had for cheap, the motor is similar in all of them I think. I think you can also modify the hard drive so that you can fit it on pins like a module that fits on a card (new keysight stuff does this, they stopped using 'cards' for some things, and instead have boxes that lay down on the PCB, and mate with it using pins, much like a big ass IGBT. So its more like a container ship then a computer motherboard. The get laid in right on top, not slid into slots or cages or anything like old school mainframes. There is nothing to bend or damage or deform save for the pins, so structural damage is not an issue, but I am going to assume its done because its cheaper and easier, I don't think it is as good as a reinforced slot to feed a module (i.e. hp70000). I can also see it damaging stuff it seizes or welds itself, since you are yanking directly against fiberglass, no matter how many screws you use.. its just not gonna beat a metal frame with a connector that you can use a crow bar on............. but good enough for this ! I know when you beat up slotted equipment you need to be pretty good with sheet metal and bending and shit to fix that problem.. most lab people would probobly hurt themselves dealing with a mangled mainframe lol

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 09, 2021, 06:03:05 pm
content: I have been researching this and actually I am wondering about frame dragging. I know you can do SR, but what about the 2nd component of the field?I think it would ungulate but how do you get the twist going?I am not 100% sure actually because I neglected to think about it other then the bed sheet analogy, that is with spinning objects I think something starts to happen with like a whirlpool.I think it comes down to gravitomagnetic and gravitoelectric components. The picture I posted only does one of them. I wonder if a mechanism can do the other some how. Maybe your solution caught that, but I am not sure, hard to think about for me.

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 09, 2021, 08:43:56 pm
content: I had a fascinating thought, given that this thread went from magnetic-mechanical to electro-mechanicalCan a electro thermomechanical device be made, using substances like nitinol, or nitinol derivatives, to make wire and possibly bimetalic or multi-metalic wire structures that respond to deflect in the correct way? it would probobly be substantially slower but it does serve to slaughter cost.

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 14, 2021, 05:20:29 pm
content: Are you familiar with the mechanism that the old mechanical FFT analyzer used to make a 'output display'?it reminds me of your idea a little bit, they were really clever with the design

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 16, 2021, 02:45:04 pm
content: the picture of the mechanism is extremely unclear but its unlikely I can help, it sounds like this can use a mechanical clock engineer or something at this point, with all the linkages. the person required is probobly sitting in a 1942 ordinance lab (mechanical firing computer)

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 25, 2021, 04:22:19 am
content: this is almost perfect to do use as each element.