Tensegrity Prisms etc 4

Christine with the wind up frame model car in its discharged state.

Top view, discharged, see the video

Side view, wound up or charged.

Top View, Charged, see the video

Hi, I will start this entry with just a basic description of this latest model from my 3d printed, one-part wheel construction kit detailed last time.  (The model can be downloaded for free from this site) Really you have to go back to the start to see how this machine evolved out of a way of making tensegrity prisms, and what tensegrity prisms are in the first place.

So from my last posts here and here, I showed a 4 wheel steering model car and a rubber band driven model car, and from some studies I had been doing, knew about the concept of energy being stored in the frame of a vehicle.  So the designs all whooshed together, and I came up with the model shown on this page.  The sticks which are the frame and the power source are very flexible, green, late winter growth twigs just about to burst into flower.

Ok, not the most refined thing, but I think printing them in schools and seeing what kids would come up with would be a great practical way to introduce energy storage and conversion. In 2040, Norway plan to have all their planes electric, so in the next 20 years, the storage of energy in lightweight structural materials will become a major development goal.  The storage may start in batteries that come with solar panels, then evolve through batteries for bicycles and velomobiles and cars, until, finally, the entire frame of airplanes do double duty as a battery.

So what about the future for the Wind-Up-Frame-Car I've made?  I have some plans to go big and go slightly less rough with the design.  Will keep you posted.

Regards

Steve Nurse