Proof #25348 that humans need to genetically engineer themselves to select for higher intelligence: widespread total ignorance of a 150 year old established law of physics and an inability even in the face of this ignorance to deduce trivially simple mechanisms of conventional kinetic energy transfer. Repeat after me: "perpetual motion machines have never been possible, are not currently possible and will never be possible in the future". I can't even tell you how incredibly depressing this post is to me.

upvote for interesting design, probably not terribly efficient though.

I do have to agree with gluonium here though, lose the "free energy?" tag. He is, by hand forcing the magnet into what effectively amounts to a wedge thereby driving the wheel. The flux field of the held magnet has fixed proportions that can only be exploited to a fixed degree. Without physically moving the magnet or electrically altering the field he will not be able to overcome the "gate" dilema. It's cetainly not free energy.

if you read my blurb, could the driving magnet not be controlled by the rotation of the wheel, thereby removing any need for the human interaction at all?

Yes, it could be done by a use of a simple cam and spring, but the point is that even with an extremely effiecient cam and roller setup you'll never get, or exceed, the energy required to operate it out of the system. It would require equal, 100% effieciency, or greater for operation. Remember that moving the single magnet back and forth is, at least in one direction, met with resistance. That restistence is surely greater that the energy output of the shaft of the wheel.

A few years ago I researched some of the most effiecient energy storage systems on the market, they use a high speed composite fly wheel and an electric motor/generator. They were contained in a vacuum, to eliminate air turbulence, and they use active magnetic bearing to levitate nearly reducing friction. Nearly, because even when minimized there are still sources of loss inherent in magnets, like magnetic hysteresis and eddy currents. I was pretty impressed, Active Power for example claims 98% energy efficiency. 100% or more is simply not possible.

Dang, you guys are quick. Nice post, Clayton.

Regardless of how the driving magnet is controlled, energy needs to be used to make that magnet move and turn the wheel. The energy used to move the driving magnet is all that is going into the system, and even less energy will be stored in the wheel system due to loss of energy through friction and air resistance and whatnot.

Check out the guy's website, with a list of his attempted perpetual motion machines: http://www.callowayengines.com/. It reads like a heartbreak ready to happen.

poor old souls still looking to find that one thing we've overlooked in producing free energy. cool demonstration none-the-less.

He succeeded in making a motor that runs on twinkies. the magnets are like cams converting the linear motion of his arm into rotary motion of the wheel.

damnit, i submitted this a while ago, but it never got promoted. yea cool stuff, but not a perpetual motion machine.

Some more stories from the free energy community:
http://pesn.com/2006/02/10/9600233_Calloway_Magnet_Motor_Open_Source/

You could tell why these machines have such allure. Anyone can *see* that the engine almost works, so it's intuitive to think that maybe you could fix it a bit to get over that last bit. Whereas conservation of energy is abstract. The best proof of conservation of energy is essentially the fact that we haven't seen it violated, which may seem too weak to such people.

The wheel is green and orange.

he has four fingers on each hand, and two thumbs, one for the left and th'other for the right.