Large Magnetic Levitator

Update 7/21/2022: STL files for the levitator have been uploaded
www.thingiverse.com/thing:543...
In this video I'm going to show how to build a attractive-type
("hanging") magnetic levitator. This is the easiest type of
levitator to build, because the electromagnet only operates with
one polarity, and only requires a single sensor and transistor
to operate. A repulsion-type levitator requires sensors for X
and Y position, and 4 coils with their own individual H-bridge
drivers.
The electromagnet is built from a 2" x 6" solid steel cylinder
as a core, and 600 turns of 16-gauge wire. The longest distance
I've managed to attract a large N52 magnet was about 9 inches
using 20 amps of current, but the coil heats up very fast with
that much current.
In this video, the magnets shown are hovering just outside the
region where the ferromagnetic attraction to the core would
overcome gravity, so the levitator takes very little power.
Levitating a 3-lb steel wrench only consumed ~5W, and a 30mm N52
magnet by itself consumes about 1W levitating a distance of
about 2" below the electromagnet.
The limiting factor in the levitation distance is the resolution
of the hall-effect sensor, which has an output of 20 mV/mT. Once
a 30mm N52 magnet goes beyond ~2 inches from the sensor, the
output is too small to be distinguished against the idle voltage
of the sensor. Changing to a more sensitive hall effect sensor
would increase the levitation range dramatically, but also
consume exponentially more power.
There is no microcontroller driving the electromagnet. The coil
is energized by a MOSFET that has its gate connected to the
output of an LM324 acting as a comparator. One input to the
LM324 is the hall effect sensor output, and the other input is a
reference voltage set by a potentiometer. I've found that it's
neccesary to make slight adjustments to the reference voltage
when changing to different magnets / loads on a particular
magnet.
Some of the key components used in this build:
-EQ733L Hall Effect Sensor
-LM324 Op-Amp
-IRF7545 MOSFET
-LM7805 5V linear regulator
-6.6 mF / 1 mH input filter
Some other figures:
-12-18V input voltage
-50-500 mA of current draw @ 12V depending on the load
-9.5 mH / 1.3 Ohm electromagnet (600 turns of 16 AWG)
-Magnets used in this video are 30x5 N52 magnets stacked
together and 2x 40x20 N52 magnets stacked together
Music used:
Serge Pavkin - Fractal
Serge Pavkin - Tech Research
Serge Pavkin - Intergalactic
Alexander Nakarada - Space Ambience

[@lorencpollo2926]

For anyone watching this video years later, just wanted to say that placing a thin piece of aluminum between the electromagnet and the Hall effect sensor really helps if you’re having issues keeping the system stable. Before the aluminum I couldn’t output a square wave at all and the frequency would be in the 10k or higher. After the aluminum it was a square wave with about a 12% or so duty cycle depending on how heavy or how far the magnet was from the sensor, and the frequency dropped down to around 300hz. Which was a lot easier on the mosfet.

[@chukwuemekaokafor3859]

Thanks for this comment,

[@justinindustries2747]

Good idea

[@jasonquiatchon770]

aluminum ????

[@MrStevensarns]

Nice description of the project and elegant circuit. I too have done this with a microprocessor and marvel at the simplicity of your approach.

[@antonnym214]

That floating saucer is pretty epic. Nice job!

[@patrickjdarrow]

Tried doing something similar in undergrad as a side project but couldn't get the circuitry right. Would love to see a deep dive on the schematics!

[@biancamarcy8209]

you did it? i need some help..

[@polarkerr]

Very cool, I've been looking to build one of these for 20 yrs now, never got a chance perfect video thx

[@tr911tr]

KZbin algorithm thinks I'm worthy enough to recommend me this amazing channel before hitting a million subscribers! Made my day! Awesome work, keep going!

[@martinmendoza920]

You are awesome, I would have a lot of fun with that levitation jig you put together beautifully

[@rickyrobot]

Super cool video. I had to pause and check out the coil winder video when you mentioned that part of the build, did not disappoint =)

[@Magneticitist]

Sweet. That efficiency is much better than what I would have guessed.

[@heavymetalaircraft]

This is an excellent idea and great presentation! Love your channel!

[@christopherdasenbrock2683]

I genuinely don't understand why this channel doesn't have more views/ subscribers

[@BushCampingTools]

Man, I'm glad i found your channel lots of cool educational projects.

[@chrissold5957]

Your experiments & projects are realy inspiring

[@PhillipChalabi]

Welp it only took me seeing 4 of your videos to realize I have to sit down and watch them all. Excellent stuff!

[@johng539]

Wet well preparation video on every diagram and step by step done right , and u have a lot of knowledge on this to… Very well done ! U got my thumbs up on this video

[@mokkascience-2840]

Your contents are awesome man! Keep doing!👍

[@tdtrecordsmusic]

super cool !! thnx 4 sharing. congrats on it going so well. flawless victory

[@VictorLarsen-fy9ls]

I think you can add another feedback, negative, if you add another hall sensor from the bottom of the magnetic object. Then the sensor will react to the fall of the magnet down, it will be like increasing the resolution of the overall sensitivity.

[@Souparnalabs]

Fascinating , Very well done

[@JDSchmelzerful]

I was able to replicate. I had to change 2 things in the wiring diagram. First note is pin 2 & 3 should be swapped for the hall effect sensor. 3 is output not ground. I fried a few sensors learning that (at least for a EQ731L... Digikey on backorder for the 733). Second thing was for Op Amp logic. I had to switch pin 2 & 3 for the LM324N I ended up using. Swapping the hall effect output w/ the linear 100kohm pot made it so my magnet defaulted to being on then turning off when the levitated magnet got close to the hall effect sensor. They way shown had my magnet only turning on when the levitated magnet got close to the sensor (the total opposite ;.;). I'm a manufacturing engineer not electrical so no clue if this is my bad wiring, flip flopped wiring diagram numbers, or a difference in parts. Very cool video either way. This got me into electronics :)

[@user-xu9db3pq9z]

So did it work normally after rewiring? I'm making this. Please answer me

[@ahmedhasanin8445]

Great job your content is awesome, thanks a lot 👍😍

[@Johny40Se7en]

Amazing creations there. The flying saucer's a nice touch. And if you're not already, you should get teaching. You made this proper interesting all throughout, even the electrics part where I would have usually zones out in a nano second 😅😝 Love the music right the way through too, it's very chilled and thought provoking.

[@awarenessiskey]

Incredible. You were able to grab and let go and grab again without touching. That’s amazing. scale this down and I see medical and scientific possibilities.

[@whitelionfortruth]

Great Video! Thanks so much for sharing this! :)

[@stevedoubleu99B]

Thank you, I am going to have a go at this. My electromagnet core is a bus kingpin. Wish me luck.😊

[@wiremonkeyshop]

This is really fantastic, especially that you designed the analog circuit to keep the magnet floating. It operates very smoothly. I would have tried to do it with a microprocessor and code, but this is a far more elegant approach and is clearly superior. Bravo! Time to levitate an asparagus.

[@jasonquiatchon770]

Elektor magazine had this 15 years ago

[@Twisted_in_head]

Dude your nut bolt planetary system is very cool 👍

[@hobomaster6237]

great video . one of the best electronics (craft ?? ) channels on youtube. seriously

[@mumblety]

This is awesome! I'll have to make my own some day!

[@manvstaco]

Holyshit how do you not have more subscribers? I've been watching your videos for the last hour you have some great content you've earned a new subscriber

[@HyperspacePirate]

Thanks...hasn't been very long since i started the channel so that's probably why

[@EthannCraftt]

This channel is amazing. Etch my name into the tomb of this comment section to commemorate my presence before the inevitable explosion.

[@linatan2064]

Me too

[@Scyth3934]

@@linatan2064 me too

[@UTKETCHUP]

And so it begins...

[@lagalil]

He punished his opponent mashing airdodge perfectly

[@stefarn5065]

made something very similar but considerably smaller, it really does work surprisingly well for such a simple concept

[@MadScientist267]

Perfection isn't achieved when there's nothing left to add... it's achieved when there's nothing left to take away.

[@Edmorbus]

Nice project Thanks for sharing

[@PUNKSBR]

In the beggining of the video I was like: "Dude just make a bigger one to levitate churchs and christians during the apocalypse..." But after seeing the vibrations on the graphic (The waves producing letter similar to Hebraic) I remembered that there is something with a big magnetic power above us (The Sun) and also one more very powerfull too (The center of the earth)... God saved us before he created us, THANKS FOR THE VIDEO, SHALOM AND GOD BLESS U.❤ SORRY FOR ENGLISH, I HAVE NEVER FINISHED MY CLASSES, I AM FROM RIO DE JANEIRO.

[@joaopetrusdesouza5707]

Very good! I will design the board to assemble a prototype. Thanks.

[@miriamramstudio3982]

Great project. Cool video. Thanks

[@coastmountainkid]

I love the dedication you have to analog circuits. It leads to cool creative circuit design without overreliance on MCUs, makes me want to design some of my own!

[@neutronenstern.]

Actually its dogital,cause it can only be off or on, and nothing in between.

[@Enderplays12]

@@neutronenstern. The entire mechanism regulates its own wattage depending on the distance of the magnet. It's analog.

[@jorickleferink7065]

Opamps are your friend in feedback-driven devices :)

[@MadScientist267]

​​@@neutronenstern.That doesn't make it "digital" at all 🤦‍♂️ It's called PWM and while it is normally done with a microcontroller of some sort today, it's originally a *purely analog* concept, and is being done that way here.

[@neutronenstern.]

@@MadScientist267 The PWM in its own form is digital by definition. It does not have any intervalls. Only on and off. The time which regulates it might be analog, cause the interval can be any number of ms or μs or whatever you want it to be. Look up the definition of digital and analog. It hasnt got anything to do with the technology itselve

[@ostanin_vadym]

Thanks for the content

[@calicoesblue4703]

Awesome Video & Very Informative.

[@fefafafe5059]

Nice job done

[@mikeconnery4652]

That was a really great video.

[@TheAMadMan]

I'd love one of these as a kinetic arts display with my papercraft and other such creatures and madness

[@Stormrat461]

Bismuth or proteolytic graphite would have a similar dampening effect as aluminum, but also may produce a larger gap if it's placed underneath the permanent magnet as a base. It's diamagnetic.

[@hackingthescience947]

Amazing bro

[@smokey-nb2hi]

This is awesome

[@Electronic_For_You]

Very Nice Project..... I can hear Afroteachmods voice in you.... You are a legend ... Your channel will grow very soon...... . . . Don't forget me then 😅

[@Lexfr0mkhar]

You can transfer the EMF to the LED by high frequency and Faradey's Law! So to light them up without the battery inside, while they will be floating :)

[@garethsmith7628]

The flyback diode can impact performance, some are faster than others, it can make a big difference depending on switching frequency.

[@cwiskus4956]

That is a very neat idea. The top u could mockup as a ufo have a spotlight down from it and have a cow floating like in a tractor beam

[@bromisovalum8417]

that's a really cool idea! 😎

[@ken_fb3678]

This is very cool !

[@WeekendAtRennies]

You are amazing

[@Sugartities]

I have a running theory that gravity and magnetism are more synonymous than we realize, if you can find the link it may revolutionize how we look at both and it may help us look at space travel in a new way.

[@videshx818]

Very nice !!

[@salehsalehi8955]

Amazing Video. Still trying to locate the Hall Sensor, in relation to floating magnets..

[@klaus6178]

Very cool.

[@GrandmasterUV]

Very awesome. Try a helium space foil mylar saucer weighed down to neutral buoyancy so it flies like a saucer and doesnt fly off to space

[@roger_isaksson]

Try to get a fan to spin by controlling its up and down position. Move it with an asymmetrical speed up and down. Another interesting thing would be be to add magnets to a fan hub and then generating a stepper motion from smaller magnets in the fan and smaller radial coils outside the main coil in the larger magnet/core assembly. 👍

[@Quickened1]

For his next trick, he will attempt to levitate a school bus! This is just awesome man!

[@omsingharjit]

Awesome and simple Thanks you . 💰💰👍👍🔔🔔

[@user-gm3dz4kf1q]

3 ~ 5 ampere to adjust amps varibel .. use perimeter hall sensor .. amazing your mind and praktice .. salam dari Borneo Indonesia

[@teslabrasileiro]

Fantastic

[@emanuelwise9222]

What an amazing video!! You, my friend are an amazing person. If I had the money or budget like Iron Man, you my friend would be my new best friend the thing you can create oh my.

[@StormBurnX]

I can't help but wonder if a fast microcontroller could send pulses through that coil on the order of 10's or 100's of kHz to create wireless charging/power transfer for the LED objects you suspend from it. Main "big" 300Hz pulse from the levitating PSU, followed by Qi-style pulses in between :)

[@Ozzy3333333]

I would think the field strength to hold them magnets up would easily power some leds with the right coil design in the ufo and some rectifying diodes.

[@spageti6640]

It could, but you would still use a hull sensor and a transistor, so learning and tuning the circuit is simpler and more reliable

[@MadScientist267]

The elegance of analog is lost in a microcontroller.

[@StormBurnX]

@@MadScientist267 it is a common mistake to misconstrue limitations for elegance, but indeed, in this design, simplicity is beauty.

[@MadScientist267]

@@StormBurnX Perfection isn't achieved when there's nothing left to add... it is achieved when there's nothing left to take away. Adding a microcontroller to something that only needs a handful of parts to work, is never elegant.

[@davepost7675]

That's really cool, but I am confused at how the hall effect sensor works. On the breadboard it makes sense since there is only one magnetic field for it to detect, but once the electromagnet is on, I would think the magnetic field from that would overwhelm any from the rare Earth magnet.

[@Personal-jr9rn]

I have a thought, For increasing the distance maybe u can put the hauleffect sensor at the bottom and reverse the output, then u will need to take the distance between the electromagnet and the base into considration when designing

[@MadScientist267]

To a point you can adjust it just by biasing. There are a couple tweaks to this design that could give it some more fine tuned characteristics, but the only way I'd go with something at the bottom is if you intend to only levitate one specific object. If you want to be able to "hang anything" under it, it needs to be at the top. Unfortunately the field of the electromagnet is more "in the way" than useful to the hall sensor, as the only real field of interest is the one in the hanging magnet. One way to dampen the spiking the sensor sees is to put a small, thin plate of aluminum or copper between the sensor and the magnet pole. The eddy currents will dampen the spiking the sensor sees but the mostly steady levitating field will tend to remain unchanged. This also reduces stress on the MOSFET as it greatly reduces the oscillation frequency. Other tweaks come to mind but by and large this design is elegant and to the point, and indeed just works even as is.

[@user-qh6dh2br8t]

Put the installation in a glass flask, pump the air out of it and the load will be able to rotate for a very long time. It will be possible to unwind it with the help of a magnet

[@yeetmcmeat]

a big 500 lb pull magnet on the top would be amazing, I've got one that does around 500 lbs and its meant for magnet fishing, it wasn't too expensive either.

[@zilog1]

Meatball man...

[@peterheiden]

Cool and very nice!😚

[@themisf5077]

If you fix the sound quality of your videos, the channel will surely take off .The content is perfect ,keep making thos awesome videos !

[@HyperspacePirate]

I think you're right. I have a terrible analog mic right now that i need to upgrade

[@Ferraday]

@@HyperspacePirate IMO this video felt quality than your other ones

[@bryandraughn9830]

I'm trying to design a rotating tesseract built from telescoping metal tubes and magnetic balls. It can be suspended by a rail running right through the center. It's proving to be extremely difficult using actuators inside of the tubes. I just don't have the equipment. Maybe you'd be able to pull it off.

[@curiousviewer5991]

Sweet!

[@thelonewolf1757]

Mission accomplished! I have created the levitator using TL082 op amp, SS49E hall sensor and 2N6385 Darlington transistor instead of a mosfet. For capacitor I used 4700uf of 25v and inductor of 10mH. However it is not very stable. The magnet levitates half an inch below the coil as it is a small magnet around 10x5mm so its magnetic field is not very strong to be detected by the hall sensor.

[@MagnetOnlyMotors]

Nice.

[@examiel]

First let me say that this is an awesome video. Well done in constructing, circuitry, and definitely in explaining instructions. Very easy to understand and well spoken. I have attempted build this circuit and apparatus, just a lot smaller electromagnet and different components. but am confident in choosing similar ones. My problem is that I can only get the led to go out when the magnet gets close to the hall sensor, but it won't turn back on. Unless i flip the magnet and get the opposite pole to turn it back on. It's not automatically resetting each time. i have to manually switch it back and forth. Any ideas how I could overcome this? I've only got it built on a breadboard and am just testing it out. Is it the electromagnet that causes the hall sensor to reset each time?

[@aco319sig3]

Here's what I'd like to do. Create a battery powered gyroscope, then mount that gyroscope in a triple gimbal, encased in a low-drag hovering mount. Infinite spinning gyro, as long as the battery holds out. Super low friction.

[@rubenklobertanz4675]

@9:31 that how flying saucers works, with a big magnet in its core and gyroscopic force. I know from experience...

[@onebodyserviceoneshow]

🔥landed🔥

[@VinelandVinny]

Dude this is sick

[@ahmedhamdy7596]

Great content Is this block of aluminum the same one milled by the cnc 😃

[@boblake2340]

I would have used an analog feedback loop instead of this "Bang Bang" comparator approach. Probably finer control over the positioning.

[@kreynolds1123]

Might try wireless power transfer in conjuction with magnetic levitation. A few LEDs dont need much power. It might be interesting to make a levitating Brushless DC motor torque off earth's magnetic field.

[@acki4168]

I was thinking about this experiment. We see, with just our eyes, the levitating magnet perfectly steady (or almost). It could be interesting to see the real oscillation (whit axis direction motion perpendicular to the surface magnetc), maybe whit a lot FPS camera. Well, i mean, i think we should see this effect because the elettronic part has got a his "inertia" , the limit of frequency component to response of the system.

[@Ozzy3333333]

Nice! On your ufo, you could of robbed some power from the lev coil with a coil in the ufo and a diode or 4.

[@HorstChristophSchreiber]

8:40 I miss a disclaimer: "No banana has been violated in this video"

[@shodanxx]

Can the magnetic field be shaped dynamically like RF systems that do beam forming with multiple antennas ?

[@lildiikey]

Love it

[@thelonewolf1757]

Ima gonna build a smaller version of your levitron with IRFZ44n and SS49E hall sensor and the LM324 amplifier. I have prepared a coil that has no core but can still attract 5x10mm magnet. it is about 200M of 0.315mm, above 1000 turns. I will then expand it using a bigger coil

[@nigeljohnson9820]

As it's a switching magnetic field, is it possible to extract power from the field? Maybe to run the LEDs And avoid the need for a battery? If energy is extracted from the field, I assume it makes it more unstable.

[@ManyHeavens42]

it would take three motors to build a time machine, one for protection bubble, one To go forward and One backwards because of the constant inertia, Pulling, Pushing from all directions.but you could end up in Space,as the planet is Moving as well.

[@petermines3575]

Cool. Flying saucer.

[@EJEuth]

Thank for sharing! Could you tell how many turns have you done for the magnet?

[@franklydude]

Ok maybe someone has already suggested... The further away you can control the levitation, the more impressive it is. So why not try a long distance sensor like an ultrasonic sensor, or a laser distance sensor, or maybe even js a simple IR reflector sensor...?

[@WagonLoads]

I have noticed how laboratory gram scales use a non-ferrous piece of metal with swirls in the surface suspended between a very thin gap permanent magnet to act as a magnetic dampening field. The swirls act like mini closed loop coils on the metal surface. Would you be able to attract non-ferrous metals to your magnet.

[@unknown-ql1fk]

This needs a laminated core magnet and it would be even better still

[@cannibalseatyourface]

“Peppermint latte… it’s like Christmas in a cup!”

[@aleXelaMec]

cool!!!!

[@01100ALLtypevideos]

[@omsingharjit]

only hall sensor of Linear output should be use or digital can Also work ? will 49E also work ??

[@omsingharjit]

Solid bar !! , Eddy current what why ?