On 12/23/2009 09:02 PM, OrionWorks - Steven Vincent Johnson wrote:
Esa, Both vimeo videos came through clean for me. Looks great. Iphone... Good! If you get the chance, could you personally ask someone like Tachoman why Steorn didn’t design the ORBO demo device around a high functioning capacitor, as compared to the battery currently used. I think it would really be interesting to get their “explanation” recorded and then uploaded to a server like vimeo. Just a suggestion. :-) Inquiring minds want to know! One has to assume that Steorn has been reading skeptical commentary. Surely many skeptics have also complained about Steorn’s use of the battery. On the surface it seems to be a big strike against Steorn’s claims that the device “proves” it is a functional OU demonstration. Or has Steorn already given an explanation. If so, can someone direct me to the source?
As I understand it, they are not claiming that the motor being demonstrated is OU in the sense of more *mechanical* energy out than electrical energy in.
Rather, they are claiming that it is a unique design which has no (electromagnetic) back EMF, with voltage drop and current both independent of load, and that, in fact, all input power goes into resistive heating of the coils. Consequently, the mechanical energy which comes out (and which also eventually turns into heat, but that's beside the point) is all "free", as a result of which *total* energy out (mechanical + resistive heat) is larger than the electrical energy in.
However, whether their claim is true or not, the fact remains that the battery's energy is being dissipated, and a supercap, with smaller capacity than the battery, would just run down faster. That is, at least, the obvious conclusion.
Anyhow that's my take on their claim, and the reasoning behind demonstrating the motor with the battery as though it is something more than just a motor run by a battery.
Some of the snarkier folks at VOTB have observed that Steorn's claim that all electrical energy goes into heat could be interpreted to mean their motor is essentially 0% efficient, and that they are "spinning" this to claim its efficiency is greater than 100%. Be that as it may, it's interesting.
