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Railgun Hula Hoop

A powered hula hoop
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Everyone likes hula hoops. Everyone likes railguns. Ergo: combine the two to create a self-propelled hula hoop.

By embedding magnetic accelerators within a circular tube of plastic which contains a ball bearing. Careful timing of the electromagnets will accelerate the ball bearing clockwise causing the hoop itself to spin counterclockwise. The motive power would have to come from thin battery-packs spread equidistantly around the hoop.

Now, with minimal hip rotation, you can hula-hoop for hours at hitherto unachievable speeds.

AusCan531, Jun 10 2012

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       Excellent! It should also be possible, if the ball bearing is magnetized, to recharge the batteries by active hula hooping.
MaxwellBuchanan, Jun 10 2012
  

       But, but, [Max] that would mean working harder than with a normal hula hoop. Perhaps a battery pack on the hip could recharge the hoop mounted batteries via induction.   

       [bigsleep], the saving grace about an uncontrollably weaponized version is that being in the center of the hoop would be the safest place to be.
AusCan531, Jun 10 2012
  

       You'd be a death-dealing one man commando squad - until you lost your bearings of course.
AusCan531, Jun 10 2012
  

       Nice. [+]
doctorremulac3, Jun 11 2012
  

       //By embedding magnetic accelerators within a circular tube of plastic which contains a ball bearing//
This is a coil gun, not a rail gun, shirley?
AbsintheWithoutLeave, Jun 11 2012
  

       I keep reading this as "Religion Hula Hoop", and that would be cool, and probably start a real flamewar.
blissmiss, Jun 11 2012
  

       it's called a gauss gun, though I suppose coil gun also portrays the idea   

       a railgun uses the inductive force created by the sudden change in electric field (created by simply turning the circuit on) to accelerate the projectile, which is part of the circuit
EdwinBakery, Jun 11 2012
  
      
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