WE USED AN AUGMENTER ON OUR PULSE JET!
Вставка
- Опубліковано 21 тра 2024
- This is an update to our previous video on our pulse jet engine.
In this video we add an augmenter to the pulse jet.
Link to the first video: • Full Throttle Test: Di...
Find us on Patreon our website and twitter/x:
/ techingredients
www.techingredients.com/
/ t_ingredients - Наука та технологія
Imagine being the neighbour to these guys on one side and to Styropyro on the other side. It would be a noisy, but very entertaining existance! I would be over the fence asking about their constraption of the week and if the flames are normal
"Are those flames normal?"
I like that!
It would be awesome!
It would be awsumer at night.
(not for the neighbors) 🤣@@RobertLBarnard
and lets not forget having the BackYard Scientist as the neighbor in the back.... that would be one heluvah colab on Laser Dayz
I disagree. It would be a nightmare. Imagine the neighbor had a baby and it was nap time.
your neighbours are really going to love the pulse detonation engine , that thing will shake your fillings loose and possible unmoor your workshop from its foundations
And the smell. Running that thing with a jug of urine for fuel should be rank.
Shatter windows up to a mile away...
Ask me how I know.
Just wait ‘til the episode on nuclear fusion
@@PrinceAlhorian how do you know 😅 lol?
@@CraigLandsberg-lk1ep built a proof of concept pulse detonation engine with an engineering mate in university.
We struggled to get the stochiometric values correct and when we finally did the detonation was loud enough to shatter windows, farthest crack away was about a kilometre.
Based on my own work, the spacing is wrong (too close) and the augmentor is also a little small. I've seen thrust improvements of over 40 percent static thrust with augmentation on a pulsejet engine. When the augmentor is too close it affects the reverse-flow in the engine's tailpipe and that reduces the power -- offsetting any gains from the entraining of extra mass.
Thanks.
@@TechIngredientsYou should try an adjustable augmentor
"The Performance Spiral". ........get it?
( hi Bruce - good to see the experts in field are on the sidelines too..)
Also for mounting in an aircraft - the sleeve of an augmenter assists in radiative shielding. those tailpipes get "roasting".
@@user-ij3me4vu4s 🔶🔶🔶Precisely. and then some. As with all rocket/jet engines and ducted systems, geometry/topology is crucial. I have an idea for better augmenters and a more powerful jet/rocket engines. 🔶🔶🔶
Putting the chocks with the ramp towards the tire was the correct move. If you put them the other way, there was a much higher chance that the trailer just pushes them forward and they don't stop the wheels from rolling. If you put the ramp towards the wheels, the weight of the trailer presses them down into the ground and basically guarantees that they can't slip.
Agreed Alex was correct, any force great enough to send the boat up the ramp would just cause the chocks to slide. Those chocks really want to skid on smooth concrete.
The weight of the boat has to be on the chocks to prevent them from sliding.
@@landroveraddict2457 Then why do they exist? If the engine had created enough thrust, it would have towed the boat up the ramp.
What they should have done was use actual chocks.
This needs to be the next experiment to settle this once and for all!
@@mitch5297 No. Go on the internet and look up a wedge shaped door stop. Done.
I think the entire assembly needs to be in motion for a noticeable effect. If I recall, there needs to be air flow through the ring for it to enhance the pulse jet. Would be interesting to rig up some air movers to push air around the assembly and through the augmenter and see if there is a more noticeable effect. That said, I agree with the weight likely not being worth it given how simple the pulse jet is to begin.
A "ring" fan would probably not produce enough air-flow for the augmenter to do it's work in a static firing. You'd need something like a wind-tunnel to test the augmenter.
@@meatybtz I was talking about the snail fans to dry floors, but you're definitely right, it's less than Ideal, but it would be interesting to see if there was any improvement and it would only cost 100$. I don't know how much it costs to rent a wind tunnel.
@@spamviking8591.........all of it $$$$$$$$$$ 😁
I had this thought too -- that a static test might not allow the augmenter to work as intended. Not that I've read any literature, but if there's a gap, there could be airflow through it. A static test might get some entrainment, but that could be fiddly to fine-tune.
@@spamviking8591 Snail fans setup on a rig, say, three to create even flow across the booster? You know.. that MIGHT actually work.
I like the idea of showing the disagreement on video. Realistic, and necessary!
For most people, learning how to disagree is very important! I think showing more of this can help!
Well said!
Somebody didn't learn physics in school
You two are so fortunate to have this time together doing these projects. 💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻
1:15 A bladder of water under the table. Fill it up and you increase the mass into the ground. Then just empty and no worries…
That's a good idea.
I agree, or use a 1000 IBC filled with water, when empty two people can easily lift and move it around, water is heavy, 1kg per litre will make and IBC 1 metric tonne when fully filled.
@@TechIngredients At my company we used interlocking concrete blocks as weights to test our equipment. We had them in 400 kg and 800 kg sizes. But they are produced in many shapes and with different features. You can drill on them to install anchor bolts. They are super cheap. You pay essentially for the transport to your premises. You can store them over a wooden pallet and use a manual pallet jack to move them around. I'm assuming you already have the pallet jack. If not, maybe is not an optimal solution.
@@Darkralos Same thing as street bollards/Jersey barriers.
@@TechIngredients If you make a tank instead of a bladder, you could also plumb it as a heat sink for water cooled projects.
The British grandma living nearby: 😳🤯🤯🤯🏃♀️
Ha!
My grandmother used to live in Polincove, in Northern France, during the war. If you draw a straight line between London and Éperlecques (which is the main site from where the Germans would launch V1 missiles to England), the small village is just under it. One day, she was playing just next to the church, when a V1 flew away from the blockhaus. She was used to them so didn't care that much. But this one misfired and nearly crashed into the steeple. It would of course have killed her, and I wouldn't be there to tell you that story.
Probably.
My grandma was a young teen during the Blitzkreig, in Dover.
There's a heatmap somewhere that marks where all the shells landed (make sure to zoom) but unsure if she ever mentioned pulsejets.
Same thing with fireworks.
A lot of people are suggesting you need air flow around the augmenter. That might have some effect, but the point of the augmenter is to give a low speed increase to thrust and they become less useful as speed increases and reduce overall top speed.
Exactly.
Well if it only works when stationary what's the point of it in the first place ? its a form of propulsion
@@andymouse It isn't just when it is stationary, but the point is trading speed for power. It is the same thing as the lower gears on your car's transmission.
@@barongerhardt (Top) speed for *thrust*. Since an augmentor doesn't introduce extra energy it can't increase the (maximum) power output of a jet engine (setting aside that a stationary jet engine techically doesn't produce any power at all, no matter how high the thrust).
It has to move
A null result is a result. And good call on placing the chocks in the correct direction. You want to increase the friction against the pavement by increasing the normal force.
Funny how every father and son argue the same way. My dad and I always butting heads on projects together! XD
It was definitely right to turn the wedges around. The mass of the wedges isn't enough to give much friction. Lifting the entire boat up the wedge would take much more force than just causing them to slide.
Oh man, that fundamental disagreement tag... You should sell father/son pairs of t-shirts with that on them.
Absolutely, your son was right or did you argue with him to tickel him a bit more!
I love the difference in physics intuition demonstrated by the brief argument over ramp positioning.
I applaud both the literal and figurative boatanchor
That was very interesting. Some questions were answered and more questions came up. Interesting. Thx guys for doing this, filming it and sharing it with us.
I love watching the two of you work together :)
Moving on...
Tech ingredients always produces top quality material even when things don't go as hoped. Their next video is even more intriguing !
Priceless smile on both faces of you , valuable father sin time with a very interesting subject.
You did say how much louder it gets, hope the neighborhood does not suspend you….
The camera shutter mismatch against the LED flood lights on the building produced a wonderful creepy effect. It was like some giant monster was watching your jet experiment. 😅
Oh yeah! I never would have noticed that, lol.
The setup with the augmentation reminds me of the concept of the Air Augmented Rocket where the rocket traveling through the lower atmosphere boosts its thrust like a ramjet.
Awesome amazing results. I had my doubts about it working as the papers describe. Even though you could not improve the thrust your data collected is a grate way to learn what you can improve and what dose not work. That is true science thank you again for the awesome video i look forward to the rotating detonation engine video in the future 😊
Had a ruff night last night .. it was soo good to have a good wholesome video first up in the morning .. thanx guys
Omg the next video has got me so excited!
Loving all you do, excited to see the laser array hopefully coming soon.
The harmonics of the pulse jet engine would adjust to whatever the relative air density exists around both tail pipe and air inlet. The augmenter (peripheral airflow entrainment) is more likely to alter the frequency of combustion but not thrust. I reckon a Trombone like sliding tail section would yeild the best result, sort of like how a rifle exerts more recoil than a pistol for given calibre/projectile mass. This method would also alter the frequency but the increased amount of reacting mass flow (within the tail pipe) would increase thrust. The velocity of the moving engine and ram pressure of the intake (fuel flow changes aside) would be criticle to both the life of the reed valve and stabilising the harmonic of combustion. Essentially the pulse jet engine has to grow in capacity/all dimensions or increase its intake velocity to make gains above static thrust. Augmenters work on turbojets because the combustion is mechanically maintained ahead of the jetpipe. Entraining the exhaust in any manner won't effect the turbines power provided the velocity of gasses is not dramatically lowered after the turbine. Pulse jets are more akin to brasswind instruments than most ICE's and intuitive increases in performance would come from that hybrid of thinking. Car exhaust systems use the inverse of the pulse jet engine concept to get as little restriction in the system as possible.
It feels like this "augmentor" was designed for in motion, not static testing. As in, higher thrust while moving through a medium of air. It appears to break-up the boundary layer slightly and create a high pressure just before diffusion. The longer outer shield is there to allow for extra "burn" and expansion to create a wider bell-mouth effect without being too difficult to design.
That's just my intuition on this. Love the types of videos you release.
Fun video. Thanks for posting this. Onward and upward! 👍
Yet another fantastic experiment
Well, that's not what I was expecting at all! The excitement to see good old 'number go up' was immense. Guess I'll have to hold it for the detonation engine. That neighbor should love it even more 😅
It's not working because you're not moving - An augmenter forces air into the flamefront - It's like ram air charging.
I think you should wear a cap with a propeller on top . .It will look fantastic on you
Honestly, your channel reminds me of Mr. Wizard that I watched when I was a kid, please keep it up!!❤❤❤
2:38 that sound was the coolest thing I've heard today.
7:00 At this point I'm thinking about the evening news story as it enters traffic on the local freeway.
Nice! Great work!
great video! thanks for uploading :)
Surprising results!
Always love watching your videos if I had the budget this is exactly what I would be doing with my time.
Cool stuff, it would be cool to be able to see the realtime fuelconsumption, thanks for your builds, research and videos :)
Cool video, thank you!
Nice! Really cool!
Excellent. Thank you.
I love the videos!
I too was thinking in terms of running this test in a wind tunnel. But for the opposite reason of what some suggested in that the augmentor needs airflow to work.
My intuition told me that the leading edge has a lot of surface area, that it may hurt performance more than it helps. Also have to account for its weight when flying a practical application.
I don't understand all the ins and outs of aerodynamics, just pointing out what my intuition told me.
I love the content you make! Thanks so much for the great videos!
I think your intuition is good. This probably explains why we don't see these things very often.
As your test is static, you may want to consider what happens if you blow air toward/into the augmenter. It could also have something to do with air density, but I doubt it as the explosion is contained before the augmenter. I don't see the devise on the end raising the pressure enough to get better compression at less air density.
It is a matter of tuning.. much like variable area nozzles have tremendous effect upon jet efflux efficiency..you want to create more CONVERGENCE.. your setup may look as it should do this, but may be creating high pressure at inlet and end of jet pipe..with DIVERGENT low pressure down augmentor rather than convergence to high speed narrow jet efflux..
Fun science! Love it! Keep going!
Good one guys!
OOOOOOOOOOh Can't wait for the next one.
Thanks again.
I'm sure your neighbors love you. good stuff.
Oooh, seriously looking forward to the PDE! Always wanted to see one running live. Well, sorta live...
pre-congratz on 1m subs!!
Excellent video, with some surprising findings! I suspect the augmenter requires more explosive detonations, including external portions of the burn (shorter tube), transforming those explosions into forward thrust. Your tube, however, is long enough to consume most to all of the burn.
Aviation 101 (applies to turbine engines)
1) Fan on
2) Ignition on
3) Fuel on
Engine Run!
1) Fuel off
2) Ignition off
3) Fan off
I'd have just hooked 100 foot of steel cable to my truck positioned at the other end of the parking lot behind the Country Kitchen van. Quicker.
You are correct, Dr. The pointy end of the wedges should face the nook between the tire and the ground so the boat's weight wedges (heh-heh) them in place. That way, they act as immovable chocks instead of movable blocks.
I really enjoyed this video, I have some thoughts that may or may not bear fruit on the subject. It seems like the static nature of your bench test is holding back your desired results. I believe that were you to add fans and a tunnel over the entire test bed it would simulate the affect of movement, though not the effect of altitude at which these types of engines become truly useful, and would have the added benefit of cooling the exhaust tube allowing for longer pulls. Also nice touch with the rubber boat parachute anchor.
Can’t wait to watch…
With that setup, while anchoring is a good idea anyway, I didn't foresee needing to offset the thrust with anything more than 500lbs (if you have a pallet and some sandbags, it works well). With the boat, I'd be more concerned about torching the leading edges or getting lift, but you did right by offsetting the distance enough to help dissipate the force stream. A thrust diverter with a weighted base is the best of both worlds, which can, depending on partial enclosure, help redirect some of the sound as well.
I still don't think the augmenter was ever going to work with a pressure differential on both sides of the cone such that it might see both in a moving airstream and at altitude. It would be difficult to replicate without a partial vacuum chamber and sufficient wind tunnel test environment.
The boat was overkill. The gauge read around 200N, that is only around 40 pounds of force. 80, if the augmenter double it. As you said sandbags, a parked car, or leaving the trailer sideways would have been plenty.
I agree with a couple of viewers, augmentation does work but totally different designs than the one you used. The best one I did see running ran 30% along the exhaust tube, preheating the air by induction. It had a larger bell flaring and a closer taper at the exhaust. It became far more efficient when in flight with airflow enhancing the ducting.
yes... in its basic form it cant work. the air being accelerated through the duct is not being worked upon directly. only the air flowing through the jet itself is worked upon, is accelerated, and can produce a "reaction" upon the combustion chamber... once its left the jet, that gas and what it interacts with has no bearing on the reaction forces produced. you dont push on the air behind you. it simply gets in the way and reduces efflux velocity... backpressure!. rockets work better in a vacuum... you might drag more air through the system, but it isnt producing a corresponding reaction. thats fixed by the pressure differential across the nozzle.
but... if one takes the ram air principle, air stagnates in a converging duct so adds its momentum to the static pressure, then takes that high pressure air, heats it with radiant/conducted heat, allows it to expand in a chamber then escape from a nozzle... at either atmospheric or lower...
its basically just added another "pulse jet" to the outside of the thing. the imbalance of pressure causing air to flow out of the nozzle has something other than just the incoming air to act upon. the inside of the heating chamber. and that is attached to the jet and the aircraft... air go one way, plane go the other.
picture it another way.
*lights cigarette* wave your hand through a cloud of smoke.
the resistance you feel, the work you do, is to simply displace the air in front of your hand.
the swirls and eddies and large "slipstream" following, that is simply air you worked upon and accelerated, losing energy to the surrounding atmosphere. it may impact molecules and cause a greater mass flow in a general direction, but the work applied to that mass is still the same total, the amount applied by your waving hand...
simple air entrainment does nothing but add drag.
ah, the name just came to me!
"meredith effect". using the cooling system to add thrust to certain fighter planes. precursor to the pulse jet!
i also picture an annular type affair... feed the exhaust gas OVER a central cone... and the entrained air is ejected inside the efflux, that automatically being a low pressure zone... the incoming high speed air is first rammed through a choke point, then allowed to expand, slow down, increase pressure inside the duct... then "sucked" out the nozzle. ideally, with excess heat still being added during the expansion phase.
if i was better on CAD i could wack something up in half a day...
*spends the next 3 months...*
This was awesome, while also being mildly unhinged.
Pulse jets are fun!
I do love how your son is making more appearances in the videos!
Love external combustion engines, look forward to the next one.
If you change your mind about needing an anchor to hold items for your jet experiments, they make an item specifically for this. Auto body repair places have large hydraulic frame straightening machines that have to be anchored to the floor, and the auto body supply places have what are called "anchor pots". It is a little flowerpot looking item - typically set into a concrete floor - that has a chain and a metal lid on it. Do a search on auto body tools and then search the sites for anchor pots. You may need to set a concrete block (like 2'x2') into the pavement and then core drill it for an anchor pot. These can handle quite a bit of force (more than the weight of a car) and with the lid it sits flush with the pavement. From the outside it looks like a standard forgettable utility access point in the pavement.
Always the first video I watch when it becomes available. Are we going to mount the pulse jet to the boat or perhaps the power trike? What I find the funniest is the assistant going "I don't like it", like there has been a catastrophic failure in the recent past.
Thank you
Still fun watching.
Nothing short of miraculous...
"Im glad we got the light boat".. 🤣🤣🤣
I actually appreciate the occasional shorter form videos. I love watching everything you make, but with the recent trend of content creators making longer form videos, I don't often have the time to watch all that I would like to, and often when I do have some spare time to watch 30-45 min or hour plus videos, they've fallen down on the list, and I forget about watching them.
I'm wondering just how much more silly and awesome these projects can get. Micro size ramjet mounted to a centrifuge? Functioning aerospike rocket engine built out of kitchen cutlery and duct tape?
I'm sure it'll be fun and educational in any case.
The silly and awesome is the key. Remember, "ET phone home?"
The physics at CERN is fascinating, but remote. You watch it from the sidelines.
Here, you see the principles in the stuff all around you, but you can also participate.
+1 for aerospike those things are fascinating and as Mr. Ingredients said remote. Hard to find much information or video of them in action.
We heard that vape rip at 10:05 😂
lmao
Maybe you could put 3 or so fans pointing at the sides of the engine. That would help cool the engine and make a little "wind" pass by and through the augmenter. I just love experiments! 🤩
Love it
Admit it, you're from another planet. Thanks for sharing your science with us!
Property Owner Next Door: "What is it, a Pulse Jet?"
Nerd Dad: "It's called a PULSE Jet!"
... and i thought it was a Pulse Jet, my bad.
Hello guys, another great video. Maybe some ideas for upcoming videos below.
1. Now when you have this distilling apparatus it would be nice to see what can be achieved by artificially ageing the spirits. There are couple of research papers out there describing methods with pressure, heat cycling, strong light treatment and ultrasound, maybe all those combined.
2. A lot of 3D printer owners would like to electroplate their prints. Haven't seen in youtube any other method than using conductive paint. It would be nice if the 3d print could be plated with conductive metal layer by electroless plating. Then you could continue with electroplating. Some papers also exist on the internet. A well-documented easy to follow procedure would be nice.
Have a nice day, cheers.
One of these days I'm expecting to hear "Today we'll be trying out our home made orion drive"
Next time I'm angry with my neighbor for all his machine noises I'll try to think "well, at least he's not building pulse-jets.
I designed a high energy ignition for a pulse detonation engine many years ago. I'm looking forward to your next video.
Any details?
I just finished the one we'll be using, which is based on an overdriven coil and an inductive collapse (spike).
But, I'm always looking for better ideas.
@@TechIngredients
We designed a high energy transient plasma ignition system. If my memory is correct, they wanted to promote generation of OH radicals during the combustion process. This would allow for an easier restart in case of a flameout, however I was only in involved in the electronics. The ignition system used diodes operating in a "Drift Step Recovery" mode which are capable of generating an extremely rapid turn off times (~1 to 2ns) at several kilovolts. This was pumped into an saturable reactor (inductor) for generating a very high voltage output pulses ~60kV at a 10kHz rate! Here is the SBIR document: www.sbir.gov/node/258006. There should be some technical papers that were published by "Andy" Andras Kuthi PhD from USC. Here are some papers related to the project: arc.aiaa.org/doi/epdf/10.2514/6.2007-443, ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/4743608 and www.proquest.com/openview/cfa64ab6f74cdacae85ea66093561d29/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750. Here are two papers unrelated to my work: shepherd.caltech.edu/EDL/publications/reprints/galcit_fm2005.002.pdf and arc.uta.edu/publications/td_files/PKP-Dissertation.pdf. Hope this helps, Jay. analogdesign ### cox.net (substitute the ### with @)
@@TechIngredients
I tried to post some info with links however UA-cam removed it. Is there a way that I can communicate with you? Thanks, Jay
I am surprised how the son just accepted defeat so quickly! 😂
4:29 I cam tell you right now that bornoulli ring will function better if the jet was actually moving.
I more about electrons than gas flow - but that occurred to me as well; perhaps the entire air column/sheath around the engine must be moving at the speeds of flight, and not just the reed valve intake air.
@@zinckensteel maybe a makeshift wind tunnel?
That’s a nice little RIB
Cool! I've been waiting for this one. So I'm thinking it might be better to have the last 1/4 of the exhaust tube flare out a bit to take advantage of the expanding gasses, much like a rocket engine nozzle. If I recall, from the rocket engine building class I took from John Wickman, about a 30 degree flare would do it. This is assuming there is any excess thrust to be had. The advantage is that it doesn't add much weight or additional wind resistance. But I think I'd ask Bob what his experience is with flared (slightly conical) exhausts . I have seen that some of his have this option.
Great job as always...
Alex hates that thing. But, I think also has a bit of a secret crush on it.
To tune in the ring use the formula to calculate venturi performance.
This set up works best in.motion.the air passing thru the ring by means of thrust is compressed slightly by the ring then heated by the jet and expands and expels with slightly more force than was required giving an exponential increase.you may add some type of heatsinks to allow more heat to escape into the airstream.also if you look up the function of the wave guide cones on the sr71 I think you could design a potential craft that could redirect the airflow so the bowshock would hit the venturi ring just right to improve performance in movement.
Maybe a boat?
The wheel chocks were a good idea, but you should take a page from aviation wheelchocking. There, the chocks are front AND back. Both side of the wheel. And the elements are connected together.
It's a real bummer this didn't work, I've followed along, but oh well, not everything always goes according to plan. I can't wait to see the P-D-E though. Keep it up though, these videos are great 😁👍
With increasing incoming flow speed, the shape of the augmenter's inlet becomes important. The chord of its profile shall resemble that of an airfoil with the high-pressure side towards the inside -- just the opposite of the current design. Rationale: You want a compression ratio > 1 in order to do work.
The neighbour knew exactly what it was, must be good people.
The purpose of the ramjet is propulsion - thus movement. If that ramjet was powering a rocket, there would be significant airflow introduced by its rapid flight thru the atmosphere. Perhaps that is the missing ingredient - you just have to let that thing fly free!
I would suggest that you consult with your neighbor first, he may have some legitimate reservations about your doing so.
It's not a ramjet, nor is it a rocket. There's 2 problems - the augmentor is too small, and it's far too close.
Sorry you didn’t get the result you expected, but that’s engineering! It’s great to see both sides of the science and engineering process on this channel.
I believe the augmentor has to be some distance away from the end of the exhaust. Not necessarily fine tuned. It’s like from blowing the air at an opening it pulls in 4x the amount of air with it when there’s a gap but if there’s no gap it’s not pulling in any extra air. It’s Bernoulli Principle. Please try again with the gap to see if it works!!!!
I want to give you some positive feedback. I think many would appreciate a Hybrid Jet Engine - 4.0 with 4 stages. Consider the advancement in motors, lowered battery prices and better controllers. With 4 stages you can probably get the pressure up especially if you neck down the flow like a real multistage compressor wheel. Methanol/Ethanol can offset fuel costs while being environmentally friendly. Good Luck.
You need to create a Venturi - ie geometry optimisation via CFD. Water injection in the annulus would also help
The augmenter might work better when the engine (and the vehicle) are in forward motion, providing an airflow feed to the augmenter which is heated by the jet exhaust. In the configuration you applied here, you still have some counter thrust due to a fraction of the exhaust hitting the rear interior of the augmenter..
I knew it wasn't going to work in the last video and this video proved me correct but I found it rather funny the amount of effort put into keeping it from moving when the weight of table itself is more than enough to keep it on the ground. You could hold that jet back with your bare hands if it wasn't red hot lol even massive pulse jet the size of a small car wouldn't need all that to tie it down just a solid mount that grips the ground nicely. Cool video none the less I definitely wasn't expecting it to decrease performance
It is better to over build rather than under build when it comes to safety.
@@TechIngredients that is very true
Hahbahah I love the part with the boat 10/10 humor!
Last video on the jet was 18:11. This one is 11:18. Nice work.
The jet is really cool, too!
Great video as always. I was wondering if you had seen anything about the thunderstorm generator? Looks very interesting and not too hard to build for you.
A few other viewers have recommended I look into it.
The basic premise doesn't make sense to me. Weather patterns involve a lot of damping, so the energy needed to drive it (or modify it) will have to be VERY large to compensate for losses.
Your partner is theoretically correct about the ramps going backwards. The corner of the ramp is meant to catch the tire tread, and the friction is meant to make it impossible for the ramp to get pushed out of the way. Then, the boat is less likely to move, as the effective slope is the circumference of the tire rather than the ramp slope combined with the tire.
In practice, whether the ramp really catches or not is dependent on many factors. How coarse is the parking lot? If he can move that boat by himself, I very much question how much the ramp slope will contribute to slowing down the runaway pulse jet.