PROJECTS: GYROCAR
makezine.com/23/gyrocar
Staying Up
When a gyroscope (or top) isn’t spinning, gravity just pulls down one side and it falls. But when it spins fast,
gravity’s force on that side is quickly rotated to other positions before the gyro has a chance to fall. As a
result, the gyro self-corrects, with its axle tending back toward a right angle to gravity.
F
A
B
E
C
D
G
F
A Three AAA batteries power
the Gyrocar’s motor for 30+ total
minutes.
D The gyroscope wheel hangs
down and rotates horizontally,
creating gyroscopic forces. There’s
no axle underneath.
a biased pulley, and its larger side
is friction-driven by the gyroscope
wheel close to the center.
B The plywood motor mount
holds the batteries on top and the
motor underneath.
C The motor’s axle points downward and attaches inline directly to
the gyroscope axle.
E Three screws let you adjust the
plastic cap’s position to precisely
engage (or disengage) the gyroscope wheel with the drive wheel.
F The drive wheel turns vertically, centered underneath the
gyroscope wheel. It’s shaped like
G A plastic cap attaches the
motor mount to the bracket that
holds the drive wheel, enclosing the
gyroscope. The cap’s thin plastic
material flexes under the weight
of the gyroscope, so that the gyroscope only engages with the drive
wheel when the drive wheel bears
the Gyrocar’s weight.
THE KASHMIR LIMITED:
BRENNAN’S GYRO MONORAIL
Our Gyrocar was inspired by the work of Louis Brennan,
the inventor who made a fortune by creating the first
guided torpedo for the British Royal Navy in the 1870s.
Brennan spent the rest of his life trying to commercial-
ize monorail systems that used huge gyroscopes for
balance. He even built a 24-ton gyro locomotive for the
British War Office and the Maharaja of Kashmir. But
his ideas never caught on — neat factor aside, it’s not
practical to devote so much weight and energy to gyro-
scopes when you can simply balance on 2 rails.
Illustration by James Provost; photography by Getty Images
86 Make: Volume
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