Levitating LED Lamp

Some projects don’t need to have a noble cause to better the world or make some aspect of daily life easier. Some projects are done just because you can, or it looks cool. Back in 2012, I worked on a group project for school with a simple task: Use a sensor and do something interesting. We decided to build a simple magnetic levitator to float a few magnets in midair, but there were parts of the project that I wasn’t able to implement. The main feature I wanted to add was wireless power transfer.

Wireless power works just like a normal transformer, except there isn’t the iron core that’s found in a traditional transformer. The physics, however, still work the same: current from the primary windings creates a magnetic field, which induces current on the secondary windings. The lack of ferrous material connecting the windings, though, means that the power transfer efficiency is significantly less. But let’s see this thing in action!

Unfortunately, it’s still not perfect. There’s still too much oscillation at times, but I think that’s because the comparator circuit output is only off or on (even though they’re short pulses). Another reason could be from using a single sensor, which is picking up both the magnetic fields of the magnet and the inductor, resulting in a slight error. I’d also like to transfer more than just a watt of power to the LED, but without tighter and cleaner windings, I’m not sure how much more power I could transfer without adding too much weight.

If you’d like to build your own, check out the GitHub repository here. Have you ever worked on a project like this before? What kinds of projects have you worked on, just because you could? Let us know in the comments below.

[ajaypanagariya]

an LM358 (from your github link) isn't a comparator, it's an op amp. In the past I've had a bit of hysteresis when using the LM358 as a comparator. This might have something to do with the behavior not quite as you expect.

[DaveDRC]

i want to builda floating cloudl lamp... getting the magnetic levitator and the led to work is no problem... i can just usea battery or a powerbank ... but this method would be way better.. would it be possible to fire up 10 led with it?

[ArtinDE]

i wanna build this project, i need your circuit map and things you have used, can you share it with me?

[Nivz]

what potentiometer did you use? can you share the circuit and pictures please?
just saw it on github, can you show us the setup though?

[CharlesSnyder]

Awesome! That's pretty cool. Quick! Patent it! : )) Prob already is... : P

[Vijaykumargupta]

Bro which two MOSFET you have used in generator circuit

[ivrzvradam]

Merhaba. Ben devrenin aynısını birebir yaptım. Ancak şöyle bir sıkıntı var. Kablosuz aktarımı aynı 12 volta akıma bağladığım anda mıknatıs düşüyor. Ancak kablosuz devreyi başka bir 12 volt akımdan elektrik verdiğimde problem kalmıyor. Sanırım hem levitasyon için hem de kablosuz aktarım için aynı 12 volttan elektrik aldığımda sensörü bozuyor. Yardımcı olabilecek var mı acaba?

[coltmur]

How much current are you having to run through the inductor? I'm trying the same setup (currently just tying to get the magnets to levitate) but my power supply will only provide 2A, and it seems like that's not enough to produce a strong enough field to hold the magnets up at a significant distance away from the core of the inductor. With 12V and the MOSFET open that would give something like ~20A right? Are you having to drive that much current through the inductor? Thanks!

[foxpup]

Instead of powering a light, why not power another levitator for "DOUBLE LEVITATOR POWER!!!" Yes, I am an Old Spice customer and the world should be happy about that. :-)

[EmreDUR]

Could you make another video about levitating a magnet using 4 or more coils. In this video, magnet is kind of hanging instead of levitating. What should we do if we want to literally levitate a magnet. I saw videos using more electromagnets to levitate the magnet but I don't think I understood the logic.

[bornakreca]

can it be done with batteries to make it portable?

[HossamElwahsh]

is there an equivalent for the SS494 hall sensor?

[SchlonkaVision]

What happens if you tilt the lamp 30, 60, 90 degrees? Does the round light stay face down and eventually fall? Is there a way to have lights at 30 degree angles from your original position?

[vgrhhpy]

How big is the power consumption for this setup?