About this project
My name is David Coles and I've been a Science Fiction, space, and technology enthusiast since about the age of five, when my parents first started giving me astronomy and space travel books.
One morning late in October of 2016, this particular technology geek woke up and found that two interesting facts he was aware of had become acquainted overnight. The first was the fact that Leonardo Da Vinci had designed several theoretical gravity wheel 'perpetual motion' machines. The other fact was that evolutionary algorithms (which use a digital implementation of biological evolution to improve and optimize all sorts of complex systems, including mechanical designs) had been used by NASA to "breed" a super-efficient space antenna design.
I had an incredible Ahah!! experience moments after I woke up, when I realized that these algorithms were the perfect tool to apply to the task of improving and optimizing Leonardo da Vinci's gravity wheel designs. And since NASA's 2016 Emdrive experiments had recently indicated that we may not be nearly as smart as we think we are regarding just what the laws of physics will and won't allow, I realized there was a remote but real possibility that such algorithms could, in fact, transform da Vinci's gravity wheel designs into functional versions that actually worked in real life.
Hopefully you've already watched the Kickstarter video, where I tried to explain at a high level how evolutionary algorithms work and how effective they might be at unlocking the problem da Vinci was seeking to solve. I made the video a fictional "looking back" interview in an effort to share my vision of what outcomes might turn out to be possible if the experiment were funded and actually succeeded. As subtext, there was also the point that even if the experiment failed, an unsuccessful $12,000 Kickstarter campaign is a risk so moderate that it shouldn't be a deal breaker in the face of an enormous (but unlikely) upside.
Evolutionary Algorithms include sub-specialties like Genetic Algorithms and Genetic Programming. The Wikipedia article "List of Genetic Algorithm applications" at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_genetic_algorithm_applications lists over 75 different applications of such an amazing variety and complexity it's literally mind-boggling. And I never misuse the word "literally."
What might such a tool accomplish if you gave it the amazing, elegant gravity wheel designs of Leonardo da Vinci to work on? If there was one person in human history whose genius and intuition would start him off pointed in the right direction to a working gravity wheel, it would be him.
It seems to me that, as hammers are for nails, as keys are for locks, so Evolutionary Algorithms are for realizing Leonardo's vision of unlimited, free power, harvested from gravity. And wouldn't that be something?
And again (as I noted briefly above) before people start saying, "The laws of physics prohibit such devices," please study up on NASA's peer-reviewed Emdrive experimental results, published in December 2016. 'Everybody knows' that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. But many people, when they say that, silently add, "Period, end of sentence, end of paragraph, and end of discussion."
But the peer-reviewed experimental results published by NASA clearly state that when you power up an Emdrive device, it converts microwaves into a small but measurable amount of reactionless thrust. In the face of all the naysayers, NASA's actual real-life experimental results seem to say, along with Galileo, "And yet it moves."
And the evidence that it does continues to mount. To see what I mean, please do a web search on the terms "Emdrive" and "China" to find out what is reportedly happening aboard their Tiangong 2 space station.
So if it turns out that the laws of physics are OK with converting microwaves into reactionless thrust, can we really be certain that we know far too much, far too absolutely, to even attempt an experiment like this? Shouldn't we maybe try it just to be sure? I believe (as Galileo did, by the way) that the only way to know for certain what the laws of physics will or won't permit is via experiments like the one I'm proposing.
NASA's evolved antenna design seems to me to be truly surprising and non-intuitive. Would a human mind would ever be able to come up with such a solution at all?
And since shape is basically what the da Vinci's gravity wheels are all about, this experiment asks if there isn't some surprising, non-intuitive shape for a gravity wheel, that nobody on earth would ever think of, that might actually work?
Let's breed for it, using Evolutionary Algorithms, and see for ourselves. Let's ask the universe.
You want in? We'd welcome your support.
- David C. Coles
Risks and challenges
Risk - What if it doesn't work? What if the Evolutionary Algorithm work never even gets close to reaching a design that will work in real life?
Response - Well, that's science. It was eminently worth attempting, and negative results still add to the sum of human knowledge. PS - I would advise Dr. Dey to start a consulting business and start accepting gravity wheel designs from contemporary inventors and designers for attempted Evolutionary Algorithm optimization.
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Risk - What if you got a design that appeared to work successfully in the Evolutionary Algorithm simulations, but the physical prototype didn't work?
Response - Depending on how overfunded we might end up being, I'd seriously consider bringing in a team of engineering experts to see if they could help get the prototype (or a new version of it) to work properly.
Learn about accountability on KickstarterFAQ
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Wikipedia says "Torque, moment, or moment of force ... is the tendency of a force to rotate an object around an axis, fulcrum, or pivot." It is cranking or twisting power. When you use a screwdriver, your hand applies torque to it. The two Fitness Functions our Evolutionary Algorithm experiments will select for are longer spin times and stronger torque.
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Da Vinci's idea appears to have been that if a wheel's center of mass can be significantly offset from its axle, the offset side will be heavier than the opposite side, and it will fall while the other side rises. Therefore the wheel turns as long as there's gravity to power it, converting gravitational acceleration to rotational acceleration.
See also:
http://www.leonardodavincisinventions.com/mechanical-inventions/leonardo-perpetual-motion-machine/
https://www.youtube.com/watch… (No sound)
or do a web search for "da Vinci" and "perpetual motion"
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An initial da Vinci design is multiplied by the computer into a population of many different designs. Computer simulations test the designs for improved spin time and torque. Only those designs that score best are selected as the "parent" designs and undergo Crossover and mutation (explained in the video) to create a new generation of variants.
Continue the process until there's no further significant improvement in spin time or torque. If the spin looks continuous in the simulations, build and test a physical prototype of the optimized design.
For further information, please search the Web for the term "Evolutionary Algorithm"
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At the time of the filming of the video, I had an agreement for the image gallery website in place that had a significant price tag, but (fortunately for me) the contractor generously chose to release me from the commitment.
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Dr. Partha Dey, of the Academy of Technology, an engineering college in West Bengal, India, is our Evolutionary Algorithm expert. He's experienced in both Genetic Algorithms (GA) and Genetic Programming (GP), both of which fall under the umbrella of Evolutionary Algorithms.
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I would submit a provisional application for a patent to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. This would disclose the details of the design and protect it against other claimants by establishing and documenting my prior claim to the device. I would then have control of the device so I could (and would) have a prototype built and tested.
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The provisional application sent to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office gives the filer one year from the date of filing to submit an actual patent for the device. If the prototype worked, I would file a patent for the device within that time.
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Yes, I researched this carefully and it isn't an issue. Engineers and inventors use computers, including evolutionary algorithms, all the time to create the best designs they can. Such designs may legally be patented.
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I believe that if this experiment actually produced a working device, it would be an achievement worthy of a substantial reward. But I would also want the device to help as many people as possible, as quickly as possible.
So if I had a working prototype gravity wheel device and a solid patent for it, I think I would turn to the Breakthrough Energy Ventures Group (Bill Gates, et al.) and ask, in essence, "What would it be worth to you if I made my patent for a pollution-free, fuel-free mechanical engine Open Source and available for free to the whole world. It would be, I suspect, an offer they couldn't refuse.
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I like, "the Gravity-Rotary Acceleration Conversion Engine" with a silent hyphen. Call it, for short, "the GRACE device."
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Everybody knows that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. But many people, when they say that, silently add, "Period, end of sentence, end of paragraph, and end of discussion."
But the experimental results NASA published in December of 2016 clearly state that when you power up an Emdrive device, it converts electrical power into microwaves, and then converts microwaves into a small but measurable amount of reactionless thrust. In the face of all the naysayers, NASA's actual real-life experimental results say, along with Galileo, "And yet it moves."
So if the laws of physics are OK with converting microwaves into reactionless thrust, who is to say for -certain- that gravitational acceleration can't be converted into enough rotational acceleration to keep a Evolutionary-Algorithm-optimized gravity wheel spinning? Here's my answer: the only one who can say for certain is the universe. That's what experiments are for.
For further research, please search for the terms "Emdrive" and "impossible" on the web and on YouTube. For the latest turn n this fascinating story, you should also search on "Emdrive and "China"
But Emdrives aside, I have another reason to go ahead with this experiment in spite of what 'everybody knows.' The other reason is that I simply couldn't stand the thought of saying to myself, "Even though this seems to be the idea of a lifetime, it will never, ever work, so I won't even try." With a campaign goal of just $12,000, the cost of failure seemed so low that the remote odds of success didn't even begin to strike me as a deal breaker. I hope you agree.
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Ask a water wheel or a hydroelectric dam. =^)
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First off, the design will be publicly available on the USPTO website thanks to our Provisional Application for a patent.
Second off, I suspect we may have a little publicity by this point.
Third off, I would make a unique email address available and ask all those who want to make a proposal to build the prototype to send an application to that address with (1) their physical location and the fee they're asking for on the Subject line and, (2) a 2-5 page .pdf attachment documenting their proven ability to do work like this, and presenting their plan and schedule for building the prototype.
Then I'd chose the builder from among these applicants.
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Yes, thank you. That would be lovely. The campaign's URL is https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/379464375/evolutionary-algorithms-to-optimize-da-vinci-gravi