OK, so I follow the discussion about perpetual motion machines.
And am hugely impressed Ioncorpse has something rotating. (Please post it after competition end. Pulleeeese!)
I understand that if
a) the dillo could be attached to the centrifuge with sufficient stability and
b) the assembly is balanced enough that the tiny force can rotate the whole thing,
then perpetual motion is possible.
I'm still wondering whether it will ever get fast enough to self destruct. Won't wind resistance increase as it speeds up, reducing further acceleration, until it reaches a "terminal velocity"? It's the same reason your car has a top speed, even though the engine is producing near maximum horsepower, it just can't push through the air any faster, because drag increases as a square of the vehicle velocity.
I don't know how AR was written, so I've no idea whether drag is speed dependent. But if so, that might explain the lack of speed increase Ioncorpse is seeing. Tuning it to fall apart before it reaches terminal velocity could prove impossibly difficult.
Lastly, the structure will bend and deflect, so the centre of gravity is always going to end up just below the pivot point, so "exact balance" is a theoretical thing based on infinitely stiff structures.
If it is exactly coincident at one orientation (ie the deflected shape causes the CG to be at the pivot point), then 180 degrees on it will be twice as far below the pivot. You could tune this so that the pivot is better placed for when the dillo has to lift, and let it's weight carry it down again.
(Again, a car tyre always squashes onto the ground, no matter how high the air pressure inside, because it has to balance the weight of the car pressing it down at the hub. Effectively, the area of the tyre contact patch x air pressure inside = the force generated at the top of the tyre exactly opposite "lifting" the tyre just as much as the axle weight pushes it down towards the ground. Only with infinite air pressure will the area become zero, and the tyre will be perfectly round - but it's long since exploded in RL!)
On paper, it's certainly theoretically possible. But it will probably be a lot harder than it sounds to achieve. I'd still love to see how it's done though........
Oh yeah, I also tweaked my solution a bit more, so I've got some ammunition now to respond to KuzyaHG's next bid! Maybe.
)
PS Good luck with the Wife Quest!