Adams motor

Perpetual motion machine
name=Adams motor
topics=physics and electrical engineering
claims= "Over unity device" capable of producing more energy than is supplied to it and being a technology that would or could provide energy at greater than 100% efficiency.
origyear= 1969
origprop=Robert George Adams
currentprop=Researchers of "free energy"
lawviolation=Second law of thermodynamics

The Adams motor is an example of a claimed perpetual motion or "over unity device" capable of producing more energy than is supplied to it. Such claims are generally viewed as pseudoscience by mainstream scientists. It is clear that functional electric motors can be built by following his design principles, but claims of greater than 100% efficiency are met with skepticism and rejection. At a 1994 meeting, several such motors were demonstrated, but according to supporters "none of the motors present were of sufficient engineering quality to manifest the elusive over-unity effect."

In 1969, Robert George Adams (of New Zealand 1920-2006) developed what is now called the Adams Switched Reluctance Pulsed DC Permanent Magnet Motor Generator. (The terminology is idiosyncratic, because the design is not that of a traditional switched reluctance motor). Reluctance is the measure of the opposition to magnetic flux, analogous to electric resistance. In the description of the motor's operation developed by Harold Aspden Ph.D, pulsing the stators electrically is said to switch the reluctance or opposition to the rotor magnets.

Working in collaboration with Harold Aspden, theories about the Aether and the motor's alleged interaction with this medium were developed. Adams sought patents for his work (and has received a UK Patent, GB2282708, with Aspden Harold). Debates over the motor's power measurement still exist, with the thermal methodology originally employed open to question. Further claims made by Adams that Ohm's law is not valid for the apparatus, tend to further confuse output measurement.

Physically the basic Adams motor consists of a central rotor either all north out, or all south out. The stators are distinctive, for having a generator wind that fills them out from half the diameter of the magnet face, to the full diameter. Tim Harwood provided a simple to build version in 2001 that was widely replicated on the Internet, called the 'CD motor.' It features some of the exotic Adams optimisation variables advocated, such as high ohm coils. The apparatus is reported to manifest a cooling anomaly, to a certain extent corroborating at least some of the claims made by Robert Adams.

Adams claimed other inventors have plagiarised his work, and pointed out the technology lapsed into the public domain, making it non patentable. John Bedini and Lutec pty of Australia are especially notable for similar claims. Issues said to be hindering commercial development include the apparent requirement for mechanical switching to deliver optimal output. The pulse anomaly also reportedly works best on a smaller scale of ¾ in (19 mm) diameter magnets, further hindering an effective scaling of net output.

A New Zealand experimenter named Andrew Thorp reports on his web page that he built and investigated a version of Adams motor. His conclusion was that the apparent over unity effect is illusory. He suggests this explanation:

:"there is an unusual effect that occurs when lead-acid batteries are subjected to high-voltage spikes, such as the motor coils produce. Their open-circuit voltage rises to a level higher than normal, but the net energy content still diminishes over time as normal. The very small motors that Dr. Adams originally built were capable of masking the normal voltage decrease of the supply batteries and making them appear to hold their energy level. Large automotive batteries will run a small motor for several weeks, and the mechanical contactor switch will fail within this time giving the impression that the motor is going to keep running forever without draining the batteries."

Evolution of the design

According to Mr. Adams' autobiography, the evolution of the motor design includes these significant milestones:

* 1969 - Adams Switched Reluctance Motor Generator
* 1975 - Impulse method of charging batteries
* 1993 - New procedure to engineer magnetic polarity reversal
* 1995 - Super Power Four Pole Permanent Magnet
* 1996 - Mark 024 Thermo Switched Reluctance Motor

References

Promoting the "Adams motor":
* [http://www.aethmogen.com/Aethmogen Aethmogen Home Page] , the website of Robert Clark in Auckland, who promotes zero cost energy, zero point energy, and the "Adams motor"
*Harold Aspden, " [http://www.padrak.com/ine/NEN_4_8_1.html The Adams & Aspden Motor Patent] , "New Energy News", V4, N8, pp. 1-7 (Dec 1996). Dr. Harold Aspden participation to Adams's motor.