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I Overengineered a Spinning Top(youtube.com)
80 points by bane 6 days ago | 22 comments
barbegal 4 hours ago | parent | next [-]

For a real spinning top over engineered https://youtu.be/QLTsxXNekVE?si=S31kpZQHiYlUSedx

observationist 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

It's fascinating that you can get to the level of atomic material properties as a spinning top hacker. Diamond seems like it'd be the obvious winner, if you could somehow get a perfectly polished and smooth surface.

I'd love to see a small Prince Rupert's drop for a tip and a ruby/sapphire spinning surface - you'd need to make a ton of drops, probably, but having a round, nearly spherical contact geometry and super smooth surface seems like a winning combo.

chankstein38 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Thank you! This is what I really wanted!

dylan604 44 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Freaked me out for a second and had to double check that my tablet comes with a stop watch without having to download an app WITH ADS!!!!! Does he earn money for displaying these ads in his video too? I find it hard to believe that a content creator with sponsors is forced to use an ad supported app. Something about it being a stopwatch really just adds the cherry on top

mariocesar 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

There is a Japanese show that made a Scientist vs Engineers version to build the best Spinning Top: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-q-hcidtjiM

Awesome!

johndough 34 minutes ago | parent | next [-]

The entire "Supreme Skills!" series is amazing. Highly recommend!

a2dam 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

This rules

chankstein38 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I saw this and, while interesting and impressive, this isn't really a spinning top. It's a gyroscope. I was hoping for a real like "I cast metal into the perfect shape that I physically derived somehow to last as long as possible" or something similar not just "I put a motor in a case and it spins"

pelf 2 hours ago | parent [-]

https://youtu.be/QLTsxXNekVE?si=S31kpZQHiYlUSedx

isaacn 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Reminds me of this little top, which actually works quite well: https://limbo.top/

inanutshellus 2 hours ago | parent [-]

man i get advertised to for these things NONSTOP. IMO it's cheating to call it a "top" but stick a motor in it to make it work.

augusteo an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I love projects like this. Taking something trivially simple and asking "but what if we really optimized it?"

The material science discussion in these comments is fascinating. Never thought about how the contact point geometry matters so much. Diamond tip makes intuitive sense for hardness, but then you need something it can spin on without scratching...

jcims 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Saw this last week, really enjoyed the tenacity in problem-solving!!

Did make me wonder if you could build a solid state one using well-timed pulses through an electromagnet that provide torque through the field interaction with the earth's magnetic field.

Not much torque available there obviously, but on a per-revolution basis you don't need much.

gigaflop 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

My mind immediately went towards Battlebots when I saw electronics getting involved. I wonder what else would need to be done to make this steerable over RC? There may be a lower weight class where some nicely CNC'ed 'Phantasm Orbs' can score reasonable points.

everyday7732 3 hours ago | parent [-]

This already exists- there's a class of robot called "meltybrains" which spin the whole robot using one or more wheel, detect the speed of spinning with a gyro and modulate the speed of the wheels at different points in its' rotation in order to create translational movement. Since they effectively put all the weight allowance into the "weapon" they can be very effective. The additional complexity means that they are hard to get working reliably in chaotic combat conditions. A team called "Project liftoff" had some serious success though.

gigaflop 3 hours ago | parent [-]

I saw Project Liftoff in person, that little death-frisbee? Looked like they have two points of contact with the floor, which is probably just better design.

And now that I think a bit further, I might just be imagining a more complicated version of one of those crabwalk spinny metal ones..

ReptileMan an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I like it, but part of me thinks that spinning tops should be without IC and batteries. I don't mind some steampunk clockwork mechanisms though.

tartoran 6 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

This is fun, well done. Quite a performance to reach 2 hours on that little battery. Perhaps Euler disks are next?

slfreference 4 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Never perfect a game something to its theoretical limits, It stops being exciting.

https://youtu.be/0Yubn6P5DUw

Terretta 3 days ago | parent | prev [-]

> Quite a performance to reach 2 hours on that little battery.

Espressosaurus 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Entertaining, but holy cow that music distracts from the content.

1shooner 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

These would make great pomodoro timers.