I'm suspicious
The balls don't move under the electromagnet as I'd expect them to. They should all be affected equally in the magnetic field, not have some move up, some move down etc.
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evil_andy Stick stick stick stick sticky sticky stick stick, Fri 13 May 2011, 18:32,
Reply)
it would shurely depend on the polarity
of the magenty stuff int he balls?
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Avast is still alive!!!!, Fri 13 May 2011, 20:16,
Reply)
polarity? No.
A free floating ball would rotate orientate itself towards the big magnet (like a compass needle orientates itself to the earths magnetic field)
You could control the height/direction of a single ball if you had a proximity sensor and an electromagnet in the ball - you can then modulate the balls magnetic field strength (essentially turning the magnet in the ball off when it gets closer than you want, then turning it back on when it drops further away again)
However with multiple balls, each containing an electromagnet, they're going to interfere with eachother and that's going to bugger things right up - you certainly wouldn't get the gloriously smooth swarming behaviour in the video.
Even as a bit of CGI - it's damn pretty and I like it a lot.
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LP, Fri 13 May 2011, 21:26,
Reply)