Josh's Lifter

Flying Lifter

This is an Ion Wind Lifter that Josh built for Science Expo. It utilizes a 30 kV high voltage power supply to create a flow of ions from the thin horizontal filament that runs between the vertical balsa wood supports. The ions flow from the filament(cation) to the aluminum foil (anion - located below it)which is grounded. As the ions fly through the air they collide with air molecules and accelerate the air molecules creating a "wind". The wind lifts the lifter.


Here you see the lifter ready to lift. The pvc pipe with the red wire has a 30 kV filament attached which connects to the lifter cation filament. The pvc pipie with the green wire has the ground filament which attaches to the anion foil. Below you can see the elevation and plan views of lifter "B", our multi-cell lifter

Elevation View
Elevation View Plan View

Here is the High Voltage power suppy. It uses a MOSFET circuit with 555 timer to drive a Flyback follwed by a voltage tripler. The flyback generates around 10 kV and the tripler multiplies the voltage to 30 kV. Below you can see elevation and plan views of Lifter "A", our prototype lifter. It is 4 inches on a side. Lifter "B" is 8 inches on a side.

Elevation View
Elevation View Plan View
Plan View

Click Here for Lifter Movie1

Click Here for Lifter Movie2

Click Here for Lifter Movie3 (Arcs)

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