French Acrobatic Artist’s Low-Gravity Invention • Hacker News Board

xtiansimon wrote: post #20

litoE wrote: post #9

NASA has a much lower tech solution at Cape Kennedy: it's a wall that is slightly off vertical. You are strapped into a harness and lifted off the ground so your body is horizontal and your feet rest on the wall. The angles are calculated so the force of your feet against the wall is the same as the gravity on the moon, while the strictly vertical component of your weight is supported by the harness. The net effect i…

> “The net effect is that walking and jumping on the wall is the same as walking or jumping on the moon.” Anyone try it after actually being on the moon?

I assume the more typical use case was trying it before being on the moon... :-)

Re: French Acrobatic Artist’s Low-Gravity Invention

#25

Post by mrandish » Mon, Jul 22, 2024, 4:20 PM UTC

krunck wrote: post #23

Rotation around the vertical axis has too much friction. It should be designed such that his motion around this axis doesn't bleed away so fast.

Yes, I felt the same. While the TFA highlights the "low tech" approach, and it is is undeniably cool, it looks to me more like a successful proof of concept, duct tape and all. The second video shows more detail on the attachment mechanism and my first thought was there are impressively low-friction sleeved bearing mechs which would likely broaden the performance envelope substantially. Also, I thought it would be good to have a snap-in bearing detente with a safety interlock.

The body harness isn't shown but it looks jury-rigged and bulky. There are a variety of low profile harnesses designed for stunt performers doing wire work which could be adapted. I also wondered about reducing friction at the ground plate through flattening the bottom side of the pipes and polishing both surfaces. Applying teflon sheet and/or a light coat of lubricant might further enable substantial rotational velocity to be built up. Perhaps giving the top of the ground plate a slight bowl shape would help keep the pivot point centered at higher speeds.

I think there's a lot of interesting potential with the concept and I hope this artist or others continue to explore it.

Re: French Acrobatic Artist’s Low-Gravity Invention

#26

Post by mrandish » Mon, Jul 22, 2024, 4:49 PM UTC

agumonkey wrote: post #15

This could do wonder for medical rehab / training too.

I'm a fan of novel, fun, full-body exercise approaches like this and I've found them surprisingly rigorous. Even one of those circle-within-a-circle gimbal body rotator things at a carnival usually leaves me quite sore the next day due to working muscle groups in unusual ways.

Re: French Acrobatic Artist’s Low-Gravity Invention

#27

Post by agumonkey » Mon, Jul 22, 2024, 4:52 PM UTC

mrandish wrote: post #26

agumonkey wrote: post #15

This could do wonder for medical rehab / training too.

I'm a fan of novel, fun, full-body exercise approaches like this and I've found them surprisingly rigorous. Even one of those circle-within-a-circle gimbal body rotator things at a carnival usually leaves me quite sore the next day due to working muscle groups in unusual ways.

Ah, I expected this to allow for gradual increase of effort and more range of movements than body weight exercises.

Re: French Acrobatic Artist’s Low-Gravity Invention

#28

Post by xtiansimon » Tue, Jul 23, 2024, 12:28 PM UTC

mrandish wrote: post #24

xtiansimon wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> “The net effect is that walking and jumping on the wall is the same as walking or jumping on the moon.” Anyone try it after actually being on the moon?

I assume the more typical use case was trying it before being on the moon... :-)

You don’t believe in feedback? Huh.