This miniature monorail stays upright with the assistance of gyro stabilization

Most monorail programs, like the sort at Disney and in Las Vegas, keep upright as a result of the “rail” is definitely a really vast beam. The automotive’s load tires (typically literal truck or trailer tires) roll on prime of that beam and information tires clamp the perimeters of the beam, stopping the automotive from getting tippy. However what if the rail have been extra like a traditional prepare monitor? Within the case of Hyperspace Pirate’s monorail mannequin, energetic gyro stabilization is the important thing.

No one has actually produced a working full-scale gyroscope-stabilized monorail system since first conceived by Louis Brennan in 1903, as a result of the concept merely isn’t sensible at that measurement. Lively gyroscope stabilization requires numerous vitality and is kind of advanced. If something goes incorrect, catastrophe is simply across the nook. However on a small mannequin scale, such issues are a lot much less related.

Hyperspace Pirate took benefit of that reality to create a shrunken-down model of the twentieth century experimental monorail that travels alongside a 24″ monitor. It makes use of a management second gyroscope (CMG) to maintain the automotive upright on the only slim rail. A CMG like this one makes use of a spinning mass’s inertia to withstand torque that might change the axis of rotation. When you’ve ever performed with a type of gyroscope hand train balls, this works in an identical method. This monorail makes use of two of them to counteract side-to-side tipping, whereas cancelling out the tendency of them to cut back forward-backward tilting. 

The problem with this design is that it requires energetic actuation of the person CMG flywheels, which is a significant cause why it will be impractical at a full-scale. However Hyperspace Pirate was in a position to resolve that drawback through the use of an Arduino Nano board to tilt the spinning flywheels utilizing servo motors. It does so in response to any tipping, which it detects utilizing an MPU6050 IMU sensor. 

With some added outrigger weights, just like a tightrope-walker’s pole, Hyperspace Pirate was in a position to construct a monorail that appears to work pretty effectively.