Lego Air Turbine: Generating Power From Thin Air!
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See my latest experiments and behind-the-scenes footage!
Can we turn compressed air into electricity using Lego? Let’s find out! In this video, I experiment with a couple different methods of generating movement and energy from compressed air. Which is better, and what gadgets can we power?
The first method is a standard piston-based lego pneumatic engine. This takes compressed air, and turns it into rotational energy via a lego pneumatic cylinder. This then drives a magnetic flywheel, which rotates within some copper wires, generating a small current. This is reasonably reliable, but needs more pistons to drive smoothly. Otherwise it’s quite prone to stalling when a significant load is added (e.g., a high-power light).
What excites me however is the prospect of an air-powered lego turbine. If we can spin some fins fast enough, even though the torque is small, we can use a gear-reduction mechanism to output a much greater torque, albeit at a slower rotation. I like this idea, because this setup allows us to spin the magnetic flywheel up to a great speed before a load starts drawing power at its required voltage. This means we can keep the generator from stalling, and we can force more air into the system to power gadgets that require more power.
Let’s see what we can power!
#lego #pneumatic #generator #turbine
The phrase "from thin air" has never been so literal :). Great work, keep it up!
Thanks a lot 😁🙏
Bot
Is actually 'from thick air' given that is is compressed to over 1 atm.
Yes because energy can’t be created or destroyed only transfer
The turbine would probably work better without the spacers between them, so it's not as easy for the air to escape through the side (probably not a big difference tho) And the piston engine would be more torquey and smooth with a second cylinder 90° out of phase (so there would be no deadzones without a power stroke)
That's a fair point, I could certainly give that a try. I'd also love to get some advice from better Lego builders than me about how to make a better enclosure for efficiency. Failing that, I reckon 3D printing a Tesla turbine could be a fun (though cheaty) experiment
@@JamiesBrickJamsI’m sure you can find a way to build a Tesla turbine without 3d printing, I’m pretty sure there’s a few lego designs
@@Overseer_Yt.You can build a Tesla turbine with thin sheets of paper actually.
@@CENREAPERYT I thought so, but wouldn’t the paper be to flimsy?
@@Overseer_Yt. Not actually. It'll work just fine because the pressure off air would be the same from all sides. I mean,if you put a sheet of paper on sawmill shaft,it can cut through 16 layers of aluminium foil
Nice video! It seems to work pretty well! I have experienced with making turbines with pneumatics aswell, and one thing I realized is that taking the nozzle from an aerosol can and using it as the nozzle for the turbine helps TREMENDOUSLY. Like, please try it.
Hot damn that's a great idea - I'll give that a try!
@@JamiesBrickJams It literally gives the same power for a lot less air used
i've never thought about using those saw pieces as turbines. that's a neat idea.
I know how how bro can upgrade this just add some uranium 235 and make a nuclear reactor out of it!
He'd need to build a core with control rods, then build a water heater that uses the heat from the core to boil water into steam and make a turbine spin. It would work but radiation, cost and legal troubles are things to consider.
Great idea and execution! One idea for improvement: Remove the spacers between those turbine wheels. You are losing airflow there that you could use more efficiently if the gap between the turbine wheels was a small as possible.
I've heard that suggestion a few times now, so I suspect you're likely right - I'll give that a try in a future update! Thanks for the suggestion 😁
I like your narration in these videos. It's just the right amount for narrating your thought process
Aw thanks a lot! I know it's not for everyone, but I enjoy making the videos this way, so I'm gonna keep this style 😄
I was there!😃Love it James. Especially the news broadcast on the radio. Way to go sir.
You were! Could barely navigate the apartment with all the damn air bottles 😅 Cheers Luke 😁
This is so cool! Lego power supply powering a lego speaker playing a radio! Love your vids man!
Really appreciate it, thanks for your lovely comment 😁
I was teally enjoying this video, and then when you turned on the radio at the end i heard news about the Oireachtas!!! Didn't realize you were Irish too! Fair play, keep up the good work
Haha class, good to see some fellow Irish here! 👊 I was wondering if anyone from Ireland would pick up on the radio bit
Wait but wouldn’t that be running on thick air if it was compressed?
I had never thought that more electricity that the output needs would effect the magnet-copper resistance! Thanks!
Yup! Work is work. If you want greater output, you always need greater input. No such thing as free work 😊
Always cool to see your experiments !
Thanks a lot Nico, means a lot coming from you! And likewise - can't wait to see your next inventions
I would add a gearbox to make it able to spin faster, as the rotor acts like a flywheel. I would also make it water based as water is heavier and cannot be compressed, making it unable to lose power that way. But overall, nice work!
Originally I had planned to use a gearbox, but to be honest, the efficiency losses due to the mechanical setup of Lego gearboxes made it a very poor performer. But I'll certainly try a gearbox for a future more powerful cylinder-driven generator!
FANTASTİCCC!
Watching those beefy round magnets spin at such a high RPM after just being pressed into the Lego rectangles made me tense up - I’d be so worried about spinning one of them up and into the ceiling (or my face)
I was worried too at the beginning! Can't believe there wasn't an accident. On the other hand though, they're wedged in REAL tight, so I'm not surprised they didn't budge. Beefing this up any more would need more security though for sure
ah, an example of peak kettle harnessing technology, but applied to wind rather than steam
Would like to see your 3 phase generator power a 3 phase brushless motor. Don’t forget to add load so your inrush current doesn’t damage your motor. Edit: I just discovered your channel. Going back over your other videos, I came across your levitating fan. This might be an excellent candidate for a 3 phase motor. It would eliminate the need for the reed switch altogether. Just in case you don’t want to do the conversion, I posted another suggestion there.
Another excellent idea, thanks for all your suggestions today! That's true, treating the fan as a traditional brushless motor is totally doable. I'll be honest, it does feel like a weird and lossy way to power it, but I sure do love the over-engineered nature of it 😁 Will certainly bear that in mind for some future experiments!
you are always impressing me with your mechanisms
Aw appreciate it, cheers!
Its kinda possible to create a generator from spinning a bike wheel thing, like just attach a big gearbox to it (obviously not a lego one) and connect it to these magnets in a bigger circumference and a bit more of the wire, and you have a big voltage generator!
amazinng job!
Thanks 🙏😁
Use a MPPT chip to gather as much power as you can! You can charge up a LiIon cell, and probably expand your lighting time at least a bit. The passive AC to DC is lossy, and you waste ennergy by not using all the voltage and current when available. An MPPT chip will help you with that = ) Also, the flying wheel was like a mechanical capacitor, it would improve stability a bit too (even is your last design is "heavy", so it probably don't need it). So, yeah, nice video, thank you!
wow impresivve
Generating power from *thick* air. Lol nice video.
I was tryna fiddle arround with a couple lego tecnic bricks and i made a perfect steering system lesgo
I’m certain Gueilmo Marconi NEVER envisioned this! A LEGO radio! 📻
When the magnet thing spins it sounds like if kirby was trying to consume something 😂😂😂
Can you make one with as many coils as you can. It would probably create a solid current for the LEDs
Cool
Fan-tastic
8:43 The moment I've been waiting for the whole video. Putting the god damn capacitor :D
Glad you got your bit eventually 😉
By the way, I’ve actually got 24 V string lights with a 24 V solar panel but they come forward with the 120 V to 24 V transformer and that is OK if I put them on my switched outlet
Science project acquired
at this point i expect a nuclear reactor made of legos
True
how do you make your coil? is there any special way you wrap it in to a circle? and one more question. what wire do you use
Those coils I actually just wrap around some Lego. The middle is a small technic smooth bushing, and then I often sandwich it between a couple of Lego wheels or liftarms. Then you just wrap a bunch of turns! At the end secure it by wrapping a bit of wire around it. I believe these coils were made with 30 gauge copper wire
What is that baseplate style piece which he connect eveything too
When u will find now a little Compressor, wich use low power, which can produce "air" witch is much enough to blow the turbins.... do u will have than a perpetum mobile??? or endless energy and energy left - p.e for light
Put more magnets and core in coils.
8:33 altho there were 3 coils, not 1. But anyways the fact that you can make energy just with bricks and air is insane
0:10 may i ask how many turns the copper wire has on the first clip?
Looks cool and is a 8.25 the Ricter fun scale. 😀👍
This is real inspiring . Looks cool and is a 8.25 the Ricter fun scale. .
Appreciate it, cheers for the comment ☺️
You should do a vid we’re you do 6 coils
How does one go about obtaining a bunch of random lego technic pieces to mess around with things like this? Do you just buy specific kinds of pieces off of brick link or did you already have them lying around from lego sets?
A combination of all of the above to be honest. I've collected various sets over the years, and also get orders via Lego 'pick a brick', and Bricklink
The video is nice 👌 My question is , how do you achieve the required air velocity at the nozzles out of “ thin air “ ? I assume this is nothing but a mini windmill ! But how to convert thin air into compressed air of pressure & volume ? 0:07
I guess a turbine is technically a kind of windmill with extra steps. Not sure I entirely understand your question, but the air nozzle is just supplying compressed air (at high speed) from those bottles. And the bottles were supplied air by the compressor. So as the bottles release air and return to atmospheric pressure, that high speed air turns the turbine blades, which then go through a gear reduction to turn the rotor. The term 'out of thin air' is just a fun play on words 😉
wow I am amazed
Aw well thanks 😁🙏
Epic video! Instant subscriber!
Aw thanks a lot, and cheers for joining 😁
what magnets do you use? And where do you get your lego from?
These are 25mm x 10mm neodymium magnets from Amazon, and the Lego is just a collection of parts from loads of sets over the years
this is insane :O i wish i was 12 years old right now ! keep up the great videos :) xoxo
Thanks a lot, really appreciate it 😁🙏
when you made your coil, did you use bare copper wire or was it clear coated?
That wire is coated yeah, so it's insulated! Otherwise it'd short itself. Fortunately, almost all wire you can buy on spools is insulated like this
What if try to turn on an aircopressor to if it can spin the tutbine?
Yup, sure can. I experimented quite a bit with running it directly off the compressor. It works reasonably well, but obviously not as fast as running 3 inputs at once
Sry i might be stupid but HOW does the air transfer from the bottles to the Valve U put something on the bottles to press the air out ? Or am i missing something
So the bottles have a pipe going into it, and a 3 way valve connected to that pipe. A compressor then pumps air into the bottle, and the valve is then switched to the middle position, sealing in the compressed air. Then when you want to reject the air, you simply open the valve again. It's just a standard Lego pneumatic valve!
@@JamiesBrickJams I thought the compressor was only used for testing aight I missed that great GREAT video and thanks for the Reply Have a good one :D
Appreciate it, you too 😁
8:30 works well with one coil.
Whats up with the LED reflections starting at 8:10? They seem to lag behind the real LEDs lighting on and off way too slow (easily visible when going frame by frame)
Huh yeah that's interesting.. I'm guessing it's something to do with the rolling shutter effect of a camera sensor?
@@JamiesBrickJams Probably yes, but I've never seen it so prominent
From now on, this shall be called an air battery
That's actually a pretty good description of it 🙌
The better question is: can it run a compressor to get the same amount of air back?
Excellent! *Now power it with live steam instead of an air tank*
If steam didn't melt Lego that'd be an awesome project 😉
what if you made a big ol crank pump that you can use to easily build up a large excess of air in a tank to cut out the need for the compressor. like a sorta crank generator but with a compressed air intermediary for power storage.
Haha I guess you could ... This would be way less efficient than just having the crank drive the generator directly (air is really inefficient to create and turn back into electrical energy). But I sure do love needlessly over-engineered concepts! So cool idea 😉
@@JamiesBrickJams Yeah, but maybe more of an energy storage thing?
@@JamiesBrickJams HeeeHeee, Pneumatic energy storage go BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
I'm sold 😄
Hi Jamie, pleased to watch you. My 6 year old son has been watching you for a while. He is asking that I create a similar setup for the motor. Would you kindly share where to buy material to create the Lego motor and generator and share names of the itmes. Many thanks to you.
what if you got it to compress air by itself and make it continuous and have 2 outputs but enough power to power the air compressor and lights
You mean a sort of perpetual motion machine? That's a great idea and I can't think of a reason why it wouldn't work. He should definitely do that
😂
You should put coils a bit further from the centre so the magnets pass in front of them completely.
The position was carefully done so they do pass perfectly in front of the coils - perhaps the camera angle didn't show that off well enough. But you're still right in a sense - positioning them further out could potentially increase output slightly as they'd be moving faster against the coils
Im thinking that you put the air pump like powerfull one and hook the power into generator and the powerfull pump goes to air bottle and i think it makes infinite electricty btw convert the volt like 7 to (the pump volt requirement)
Ha I wish. Converting power from the pump to air then back to electricity is one of the least efficient ways of energy conversion 😉
Bro just a question why do you used a bottle how did it work 😊
Hey, the bottle stores compressed air from the compressor. A valve keeps the air in. When you open the valve, the air is forced out, which blows over the turbine blades, powering the generator
❤
Hey, can I tell you something?I heard you say single coil.When there is three coils when there is multiple lights
Yeah there were 3 mounted, but only one hooked up to the board. Should have made that clearer 😅
what if you also spin the copper coil and if you think the wires are going to get entangled look at how a dc motor receives its power
I guess you could... But it adds mechanical complexity and inefficiencies. You're likely better off taking the input power and just trying to double the speed of the rotor rather than getting both to move.
Hey, Great Video But can you maybe link The Radio Module? Thx
Thanks! It's the YINETTECH 87.5-108Mhz FM Radio Receiver Module that I got on Amazon (UK). I'm sure there are plenty others like it on places like Amazon and AliExpress
Thank you so much! btw: do you know if you could use it with headphones? @@JamiesBrickJams
Yup you can! There's a small 3.5mm audio jack built in. It doesn't do Bluetooth though
"they still work well with a single coil" proceeds to show them with 3 coils xd
I noticed that earlier - I think I filmed that out of sequence 😅 It only used 1 coil to the breadboard though! So the result is still accurate for one coil
How did you modify the bonsai with light?
I just used an off-the-shelf lighting add on! You can find all sorts of them online. Lightailing is a popular brand to add lights to most Lego models
You need to measure it with an oscilloscope and see what the signwave outputs look like. You can also calculate the wattage of the generator like I did for mine: kzhead.info/sun/m8l_dpuRa4SCoIk/bejne.html
I'd love to do that! I don't currently have a scope, but it's on my list. I shudder to think how scrappy the signal would look for this thing, but I'd love to visualise it! Well done on yours - it looks awesome 👌
@@JamiesBrickJamsthose scopes like the one I have are about $50 now, so not too bad. I was wonder how your generator would work if you doubled up the poles and coils.
Oh wow that's a lot cheaper than I was expecting - will see if I can find one. Adding additional coils and magnets works up to a point. But very soon, the main limitation becomes resistance against the generator when you add an appreciate load. Then it becomes a battle against the physical robustness of Lego, and the torque input it can manage
That is very effective for houses a Lego electric generator
I have a video idea for you that doubles as something useful as a diy project for your audience, can you make a hand crank powered usb phone charging port out of Lego? Preferrably with some kind of internal power storage so you don't have to worry about your phone getting a stutter charge if you aren't cranking right or get tired before your phone is charged?
Love a good crank generator! I actually already have a video on a hand crank generator that uses a voltage regulator to stabilise the output at 5v, pretending to be a USB, and was used to charge my phone. But will likely do something like that again in the future
From where are you getting ur Lego parts ?
Mostly just years of slightly irresponsible spending on random sets 😅
you should make a town and make some of those engines so you can power the town!
Ha that'd be a cool idea
can you give us the link for that radio circuit you used at 11:01.
Sure, I think it was this one. Though I'm sure you can get similar ones cheaper elsewhere: amzn.eu/d/3d7Cksc
i found one on Amazon for ~ 16 US $ but i found one on wallmart for ~ 12 US $.@@JamiesBrickJams
Nice! Wish we had cheaper stuff like that here in Ireland
bro can use this in an power outage
here cani buy it? my ac is broken ill just use that idea: make one that works with water!
I like where your mind is at - a water powered thingy is definitely on the menu 😉
Oh my god, we can now save the earth!
Hi, I really like your videos, just one question, what did you studied? Have you studied electronic?
Hey, I studied research neuroscience, but my dad was an electronics engineer and got me interested in electronics tinkering at a young age 😁
wounder how much efficiency is saved with a hand pump
Put a crank on it. A big one. Perfect for power outages
Which is exactly what we need in Ireland right now after this storm knocked out a chunk of our power grid!
making a farm of those be like is like making a energy generator
The thought of filling up that many compressed air bottles is giving me PTSD 😅
I’d be interested what lpe powers engine could achieve
I'm pretty confident a powerful LPE (like green geckos latest ones) would produce a very significant output. I'll likely test that out in due course
@@JamiesBrickJams Bro then redo you research, there’s still a lot more torque able to be produced, just google lpe power
Wouldn't those turbines spin better if you lock them up, sealed. So ALL the air acts upon the proppelers? (Yeah i don't know how can you seal them up with legos😂)
I'm pretty sure you're right, that should improve efficiency! I tried a few different designs that mostly sealed it up, but I actually didn't see any increase in speed or output, so I just removed it to make it more interesting to see in action. But I'm sure if it was done properly it would improve output
Wait a second, hold up… the engine was coming under load because the circuit had too much electrical load, and that was transferred via the magnetic interaction from the magnet and the copper coils? Is that right?
Yup! Any time an electrical load is placed on a generator, you can feel the resistance against the generator input. So for example, if you crank a generator, it'll move easily with no load. Add an electrical load (e.g. a powerful light), and you'll immediately notice the resistance against your hand increase. Same for this pneumatic engine. Add an electrical load, and the engine will take the strain. Sometimes even enough to stall the engine. Kind of like starting a car in 5th gear
You should look into lve enines or lego vacuum engines they can produce some really high rpms especially the turbine versions. I made one that i culdnt stop with my hands 😂
Ha that's awesome, well done on yours 😱 I actually built one recently and will make a video on it in the new year sometime!
Quel dimension d'aimants utiliser avec lego ?
These are 25mm diameter (fits Lego perfectly) and depth I think was 10mm
lovely as always
Thanks a lot! 🙏
hey could, you make some air powered engines? would be interesting to watch@@JamiesBrickJams
8:34 Aren't there three coils? Or is the narration unrelated to the footage at that point?
Yup, I realise now that was confusing. There are 3 shown, but only 1 is hooked up to the breadboard
Please make a wind turbine using one of the generators and big blades
A wind generator is certainly on my list 😉
That’s actually a one-to-one gear ratio known as a direct drive. Did you take out both gears from the generator and the engine you will get an actual direct drive
You're right, not the smartest idea - it would have been better designed if I removed the gearing for that one rather than losing efficiency through the gearing. But a future version will run much better!
Next video "can we make a fusion reactor with Lego"
Haha we'll have to see
08:30 im blind so you are right that theyr 1 coil or are there 3 coils?
Haha well spotted, I filmed this slightly out of sequence. There are 3 coils mounted here, but only one of them is actually connected to the breadboard
And next the whomping willow please
or just make a simple vacuum engine if done corectly you can go about 12k rpm and it also sound cool + no refuel
Coming soon 😉
Try making a pump that eats electrycity from generator to get more air in the bottle almost infinite electricity
make a lenz less generator. need one medal disc rotor from a saw cut away the teeth's then cut the disc similar to a turbine but so that the steel can cover one magnet and one coil with the space of one magnet empty. then place magnet and coil in the stationary frame one magnet and one coil and repeat. place another set on the other side. place the disc rotor in between the two sides of the stationary frame and when you now rotate the disc it will alternate the inductance between the coils and the magnets but in such a way that there is no drag on the load.
Hmm will need to do some research to understand what you're proposing here. But I'd be cautious - there's no way round the conservation of energy. For a generator to output anything (with a load attached), there will always be resistance against it. That's a requirement for energy to be transfered from mechanical input to electrical output.
Day 1 of asking Jamie to make a water powered generator
Don't you worry, it's on the roadmap 😉
By any chance are you living in Ireland cause I’m pretty sure that’s an Irish radio station. sounds very familiar and officers getting body cameras in 2025 is a current discussion in Ireland
Yup! I'm living in Dublin, and this was one of the local stations that had reasonable reception
will the axel wear out?
Sure will! It's already got a bit of wear and tear. Though I've just bought some aluminium axles and some bearings to help future builds
In case of an apocalypse, I'm in Jamie's camp!
Im in another country :(