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andrewrgross

Low-cost passive maglev upgrade tested on regular rail tracks (newatlas.com)

submitted 8 months ago by andrewrgross to c/fullyautomatedrpg

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This company is proposing a design in which magnets are used to repel the train car away from standard iron railroad tracks, and small side-wheels keep the skids aligned. It doesn't use electromagnetic alternation to drive the car, it's just essentially an ultra-low friction alternative to wheels.

Interesting idea. I'm naturally skeptical, but I find the idea neat. I have no idea how you use passive magnets to create a repulsion force, but as the poets say, "Magnets: how the fuck do they work?"

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[–] JacobCoffinWrites 4 points 8 months ago (1 children)

This is cool - I do wonder about the differences between tracks intended for maglev trains and standard ones, in things like grade and curves. I know these can't become proper highspeed maglev trains but I suspect speed is still hard limited by the layout of the tracks. I don't know a ton about trains, but I don't think most rolling stock is involved in braking, but that still seems like a concern.

Still, it's very cool that it's compatible with existing infrastructure and it sounds like the magnets are passive, rare earth ones, so at least it's not trying to power electromagnetss from onboard.

I hope they can do something with it

[–] andrewrgross 3 points 8 months ago

Yeah, I second all that. I am really curious if either the tech or the use case can be demonstrated, but I appreciate the concept.