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A 17-year-old designed a novel synchronous reluctance motor

smithsonianmag.com

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Re: A 17-year-old designed a novel synchronous reluctance motor

#191

Post by unethical_ban »

Comevius wrote: post #115
causi wrote: post #61

BEVs like Teslas already have a rare-earth-free induction motor in them. They use an additional rare earth motor for efficiency, which in the Model S and X gets them ten percent greater range. The way this article conveniently ignores that fact leads me to believe there's no chance of the modified synchronous reluctance motor exceeding the efficiency of the induction motor and therefore will have no impact on the ele…

This is always the case when these young and wealthy prodigies are being covered by the media. They always invent a toy that the industry already tried or keep trying to make practical. Practical as in not just performance, but cost too.

You say this like it's a bad thing.

Re: A 17-year-old designed a novel synchronous reluctance motor

#192

Post by Comevius »

skapadia wrote: post #145
Comevius wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is always the case when these young and wealthy prodigies are being covered by the media. They always invent a toy that the industry already tried or keep trying to make practical. Practical as in not just performance, but cost too.

I missed the part that said his family is wealthy. Can you point me to that?

I wish I could be as innocent as you. Science fairs are for rich kids.

Here is Robert, 17, currently working on his Private Pilot Certificate. His hobby is dicking around with 3D printers and drones.

https://linkedin.com/in/robert-sansone-62116b1b7

I don't even want to link the second winner, but he is very connected in Saudi Arabia. Let's just leave it there.

Re: A 17-year-old designed a novel synchronous reluctance motor

#194

Post by choonway »

phkahler wrote: post #88
eterevsky wrote: post #66

So, how is it in terms of efficiency? The article mentions that it's 31% more efficient than existing reluctance motors, but doesn't give a comparison to the traditional electric motors.

That's a very good question. I have an EV motor control and calibration background so lots to say here. First off, peak efficiency tends to occur at mid to high speed and mid to high torque, in other words high power. Most EVs spend very little time operating anywhere near their peak power. It may take as little as 4kW to drive down the highway at constant speed, but a motor may be capable of 100kW or much more. Effi…

>He also doesn't seem to have a dyno which makes taking data and testing a lot easier.

how do you test without a dyno? and isn't it easy to set up a electrical generator tied to a high wattage variable resistor to do it?

Re: A 17-year-old designed a novel synchronous reluctance motor

#195

Post by ChrisMarshallNY »

yardie wrote: post #161
potamic wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why does it cost so much to file a patent? Isn't one able to draft and submit an application by themselves?

You can do a lot of things on your own and you may even be successful at it but there are so many roadblocks intentionally put in your way. If you don't have the expertise to file an application paying someone else to counsel may be prudent. If you do have the expertise you'll probably make more being hired to file than the actual patent filer. Anyway, she thought of an idea. Sketched and prototyped it. Hired a lawye…

I got a dollar, for mine...

Re: A 17-year-old designed a novel synchronous reluctance motor

#196

Post by cheq »

bckr wrote: post #84

This is inspiring, and let's look at why so many of us have the impulse to figure out what the flaw or missing part of the story is. For me, it's because I hadn't done something so cool at 17. That makes me think, huh, I wonder if I'm not a "natural born engineer". I start going through my life story so far and beating myself up for playing too many video games, or not going deep enough on my interests. Then I start…

Gave me chills, thanks!

Re: A 17-year-old designed a novel synchronous reluctance motor

#197

Post by dieselgate »

Cool article, engineers gonna engineer!

Two things that jumped out to me: it’s incredibly seeing copper being compared as the “cheap” alternative! Obviously it would be compared to rare earth but copper is typically “expensive” in general or household applications. Also, I had no idea Tesla motors spin at up to 18k rpm that’s just bonkers. Guess it makes sense because they’re single speed(?) Dang, old diesels (kind of an extreme example, I acknowledge) redline at like 3500 rpm.

Re: A 17-year-old designed a novel synchronous reluctance motor

#198

Post by sebastianconcpt »

ekianjo wrote: post #62
sebastianconcpt wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In what all that resentment towards him is helping you or anyone?

> resentment towards him is helping you or anyone? Where do you see resentment? It's like saying "anyone could have been Bill Gates" except that Bill Gates had access to lab computers much earlier than any other kid of his generation (and his family was well off, too). A touch with reality is always helpful in an ocean of optimism.

In your judgment about what he and his family needs are, your pre-supposed hypothesis about their condition and about the usage of his tuition and the resources of his prize which are not your prerogative. That comment which is subtly derogatory and distractive to the merit in question is your search or highlight of what exactly?

Re: A 17-year-old designed a novel synchronous reluctance motor

#200

Post by dieselgate »

slingnow wrote: post #65
jwitchel wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fair enough, but context matters and there are two that matter here: (1) The subject was the tech and the engineer not biased media narratives, and (2) HN is a forum that so many people look up to. So if you want to context switch to a discussion about the media (a worthy subject BTW) post a new thread; let's not do it on a thread that is spotlighting interesting tech from a promising engineer.

I would much rather live in a world where people question biased media narratives and we risk hurting someone's feelings than the other way around. If this kid can't handle a little bit of criticism, he won't be long for the engineering discipline.

Don’t know about this one, when it comes to someone who is younger than 18 for this context I’d error on the side of “if you don’t have anything nice to say don’t say anything”. If it’s Sharktank or something that’s a bit different
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