Tightrope-walking powered Gyroscope

Update (4/29/2023) - below is a link to the STL files for recreating this project:

In this video I'll show how i made a powered gyroscope that can travel along a monorail or tightrope. I'll explain how angular momentum keeps the
gyro upright, even when gravity or other external forces try to knock it over.

The gyro uses an 8" diameter flywheel printed with PLA, with 21 1/2" steel bolts around the edge to dramatically increase the moment of inertia.

Some performance figures:

Motor KV: 620
Motor Voltage: ~15V
Motor Speed: ~9,000 RPM
Flywheel Speed: ~3,000 RPM
Flywheel moment of inertia: 0.0138 kg*m^2
Flywheel kinetic energy: 680 J
Flywheel angular momentum: 4.3 kg-m^2/sec
Drive motor speed: ~120 RPM

The drive motor has plenty of torque to climb a steep incline, but traction is a major limiting factor, so the best i could manage was 10-15 degrees on a tightrope. In the future, I'd like to build a rack & pinion rail for the gyro to travel on so that it can go up extremely steep inclines without a problem.

Hardware list:

3:1 GT2 Belt + Pulley set:

4S 1.3 Amp hour Battery:

2-4S 30A ESC:

Servo tester:

The motor i used is out of production, but pretty much any other brushless motor of a similar KV will work fine.

Kevin MacLeod - Groove Groove
Eric Skiff - Underclocked
Kevin MacLeod - George Street Shuffle

[granav]

My favorite part was calculations before making. I am over 30 years in engineering but it is always a feeling like magic that whatever you calculate works exactly as pre-calculated. I like you stuff man! Keep doing your engineering magic!

[dantemakoya]

As a mech eng student, I found the whole process fascinating, more please sir! Thank you for using metric units 😅

[samcorder]

Just discovered your channel, really awesome projects man!
Definitely going to be binging your videos for the forseeable future :)

[nooooooooooooooooooo]

I really enjoyed the explanations of the physics stuff, thanks for including them.

[Marienkarpfen]

Boy I love how you accurately point out what causes the noise. These little information let me acknowledge peoples education on subjects or objects!

[ishigamiyu]

I love that you included and explained the maths and physics behind it!

[nickgarrett-powell]

Your channel is about to blow up, I'm calling it. Your content is excellent.

[lifeskill]

Brother you spend so much time for us is appreciable.

[johnbrown]

Glad you explained the basic principles in terms only hard core engineers could understand. We wouldn't want ordinary plebes getting ahold of and using these secrets.

[ladcheinjak]

Wow! Really good job! Continue with your amazing projects!

[natesgarage]

Wonderful projects on this channel! Love the detailed information. Thx

[heyyounotyouyou]

Totally love the explanations in your videos, please keep making more

[deanetim]

This is really cool. I just love the physics behind this project.😊

[zionfranz]

Excellent video and impressive concept as always 👍

This is a beautiful contraption! Cheers

[alocin]

What a beautiful project. I love your videos. Thanks for sharing.

[IvesMarcelin]

Cette magnifique prouesse sur le radiant de la Gravité est formidable c'est génial ❤

[federicobarra]

Loved the project and your explanations.
Keep it up!

[isaias_is]

Wow!!! Awesome project! Congratulations 👏

[marcfruchtman]

Thank you for a great intro to gyroscopic formulas!