Pretty good idea, I worked on that few years ago. A levitating non friction windmill that uses the rare earth magnets to “float” above it’s base. The problem I had then was the position of the blades (vertical), I couldn’t find a proper mechanical solution to “close” the blades that where spinning back towards the wind (and reduce drag). With the pic it should be doable (didn’t know them at that time).
Something like the above, since the wind hits the mill from 1 side (and thus pushing the blades backward, left side in the picture) the other side will rotate towards the wind producing drag. Not very efficient.
Another problem was the electro motor, it has to be build pretty exact to produce enough power but still would be spinable. Best would be a brushless motor but it's quite a challenge to get that to put out power efficiently.
Remember kids, the older the better. I found more parts in the prehistoric beasts up to 1GB then in the newer ones. 1 one of them even used a proper steppenmotor to move the “read-heads” over the disks. Freak knows from what era that was.
Wait for few weeks more so I can get my hands back on “Round About Bob”. I have tons of ideas and some are already in place. Like an opening torso carrying 2 “canons” that fire off anything with a fuse (read fire crackers). The description of Bob aint a joke
Yes, my stuff came in today. No, it’s not right yet. They sent 2 motors but one had a very little shaft. No twss. So it’s back to the shop (how frustrating).
Anyhow, the rest was ok so I managed to start on the tracks. Check it out:
There's a little rollercaster in the front (from polulu). The Sharp sensors also came in, long(er) range one is mounted on there now. Since the tracks are that small I couldn't go for 3 wheels. The picture isn't very good. It looks better standing here.
