Can side impellers improve yoyo stability?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers around the hypothesis that side impellers on a yoyo could enhance its stability compared to traditional hollow designs. Participants explore the implications of this idea from a mechanical engineering perspective, considering both theoretical and practical aspects of yoyo dynamics.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant suggests that side impellers could provide greater stability by sucking air in and blowing it out, although they acknowledge their lack of experience in the field.
  • Another participant asks for clarification on the type of instability being referred to, indicating that the idea may have merit.
  • A different participant expresses skepticism, suggesting that the concept may not hold up under advanced dynamics, particularly regarding gyroscopic motion.
  • It is noted that yoyos exhibit instability from slight wrist movements, which could be relevant to the discussion of stability.
  • Some participants encourage experimentation with the idea, suggesting it could lead to innovative applications, even if the initial concept may not be practical.
  • One participant argues that adding impellers would increase air friction, potentially reducing stability by slowing the yoyo down, contradicting the original hypothesis.
  • Another participant clarifies that the proposed air movement would not enhance stability and emphasizes that speed and mass are critical for countering precession and drift.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a range of opinions, with some supporting the exploration of the idea while others argue against its feasibility. There is no consensus on whether the proposed impellers would improve yoyo stability, and multiple competing views remain regarding their potential effects.

Contextual Notes

Limitations include the lack of detailed analysis on the mechanics of yoyo stability and the assumptions about air friction and gyroscopic effects that have not been fully explored in the discussion.

sadben
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Well i know this sounds silly but I think that impellers on the sides of a yoyo would give greater stability than the current hollow ones.( Just to give you an idea of the type of yoyo's I'm talking about: http://shop.yoyoexpert.com/product/162/Juggernaut ). I haven't started a cad model as I don't really have time to waste on a fruitless effort considering how close midterms are.

Basically the idea is that the impeller would suck air in from the side face of the yoyo and blow out from the side. This is just a hypothesis and I am just a first year student in mech.eng so sorry for the ignorance.
 
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Please elabourate: What instability are you referring to? Your idea may be innovative and useful.

Cheers,
Bobbywhy
 
You'll see how silly it is once you do gyroscopic motion in advanced dynamics.
 
Yoyo's tend to move around with slight movements from the wrist, usually a swinging motion
 
sadben, unlike the poster #3, I am not so quick to dismiss your hypothesis as silly. You may have a new, unique, and innovative idea. I would hope that when you find the time that you experiment with your hypothesis. Any true searcher would at least try. Who knows, maybe there is something else the impeller(s) could do? And maybe not. At least record the idea in your notebook. Years from now you may discover some cool way to use it.

Cheers,
Bobbywhy
 
A yoyo gets its stability from gyroscopic stabilization through angular momentum; the faster it spins the more stable it is. In addition, the longer it stays spinning at a fast rate the better, so you want its air friction to be as low as possible to achieve this.

Adding "impellers" to the sides of it would increase air friction, slowing the yoyo more quickly. This would be a bad thing in Yoyo design, and hence a bad idea unless you plan to utilize the net force from the "impellers" to achieve yoyo tricks not possible with conventional designs (say for example levitation or mid-air transversing, probably not possible).
 
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I'm thinking the the OP was talking about bringing in air axially and ejecting it radially, like a centrifugal blower or pump.

OP, it certainly could be made but it wouldn't increase the stability of the yo-yo. If anything it would slow it down and make a cool whirring noise.

Speed and mass are the only ways I know of to fight precession and drift.

As far as Vadar's post, well...no comment.
 
Jupiter6 said:
As far as Vadar's post, well...no comment.

I wasn't calling the idea silly, was just giving him a hint as to what to look up to determine it himself. I was mainly pointing out what Mech_Engineer stated, but didn't want to spoil it.
 

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