Alright this is my first instructable and im only fifteen so please give me a break. Also this instructable/project im working on wont be finished till the end of summer vacation of 2011. I decided to post the instructable now while im in the blue prints stage of this project because well 1. I want to try and win the epilog lazer cutter caues that would be very usefull for other projects that im going to do like making templates and stuff like that that i could use to help me with my art work; 2. i thought it be better to post it now while im in the blue print stage so that people could take my blue prints and copy them and make theirs better or more complicated then what i have and maybe redisng the whole thing to create something entirely different or use the blueprints to help with another project they might want to do. I'll create a new instructable on this when i finish at the end of summer vacation. This project origanlly started for me whith the thought of recreating an 8th grade engineering and technology project we did that was a model maglev train but it was strait. The thing that got me going was the though of using magnets to propell magnets; after that i though of making the track curved. Then it cameto where what if i could turn the magnets on and off and control the power level of them; then it came to where i started writing a book about a better and greener world to where i though what if i sued solar panels and a wind turbine to power the whole thing. Well then it came to using magnets to propel magnets; controlling the power of the magnets and turnign them on and off; powering the whole thing with a wind turbine and solar panels; and now keeping the car floating while my electromagnets are off...Also i want to say that i want you to build your track your own way so i wont tell you how to build the track or the car but i will tell you some basic stuff for doing your trtack and car because you can build the track any which way you want so do enjoy...well lets get started on this instructable...

Step 1: Step 1: Making the Wind Turbine

okay first things first we have to make our wind turbine to power the track right; right...this wind turbine doesnt turn into the wind though it actually doesnt have a yaw and tail on it...unfortunatley i am not going to put any pictures in this step of how to build the turbine because its from someone elses design im just crediting them i will put pictures of my own wiring diagram sin though for everything...so heres how i did this:
for this step youll need:
- a mini solar panel
- a 2 phase or higher stepper motor (i recomend a two phase)
- pbc pipe
- 2 2" pbc pipe end caps
- 5 pbc corner pieces
- a pbc slip x slip x slip tee (the piece that looks like a t if you dont know)
- 2" pbc ring
- an old fan blade (i'd prefer a plastic one the one im going to use has a 1/2" diameter in the middle whole)
- a dowel that has the same radius as the whole in the fan blade (im going to use a 1/2" diameter dowel)
- aluminum tape (or duck tape or you could use some sort of strong glue like guerrilla glue maybe whatever you want)

For the instructable of where i learned how to build the wind turbine click here it's by Tool Using Animal.

to build the wind turbine:

- Cut the dowel to about 3/4" longer than the motor shaft

- Drill a 7/32" whole all the way through the center of the dowel to fit the 5mm motor shaft into

- split the end of one dowel with a razor saw to allow the use of a hoes clamp

- Place the fan blade upside down and fit the dowel into the whole with the split end facing up don't push the dowel out the other side though

- Drill a 7/32"whole into the end of one of the end caps and a 1/4" whole into the side of the sane end cap

- Fit the pbc ring into the end cap with the holes drilled into them

- Now place the motor into the end cap with the wholes in it running the motor shaft through the whole on the end of the end cap and run the cable through the whole on the side of the end cap

- Place the other end cap over the ring and

- Take one of the pbc corners and cut of half of one end of it so it the end looks like a u shape when you look strait at it

- Place the cut down end of the end cap to the motor housing so that the corner of it is on the side of the motor housing that the motor shaft is coming out of and the cable sticks out of the cutdown end of the corner peice

- Tape the pieaces together using the aluminum tape (or whatever your using)

- cut the pbc piping to your desired length, maybe about 9 inches (keep in mind that you need to cut six of these four of them the same size)

- Connect one end of the pbc peice to the cutdown corner peice and the other end to the side x side x side tee pbc peice

- Two 4 1/4" peices of pbc piping and attach one end to one side of the tee and the pieace to the other side of the tee

- Attach a corner piece to both peices of pbc piping

- Cut a 9" peice of pbc piping and attach it to one of the corners

- Attach a corner to the other end of that peice of pbc piping

- Cut another 9" piece of pbc piping and attach it to the corner you just attached

- Attach a corner piece to the end of the other end of that piece of pbc piping

- Now cut another 9" piece of pbc piping and attach it to the two corner peices that have nothing attaching them

- Now connect the fan to the motor shaft connecting it so the end of the dowel with the split end is sticking out

Okay!...I know that may have been hard to follow thats why i put the link to the original instructable for the wind turine at the top incase mines to confusing to understand...now lets connect the solar panel to the motor!!!

- Take the solar pane and attach it to wherever you want to on the wind turbine using whatever you want (i'd use gorrilla glue on this part

- The wire coming out of the motor housing should have five wires on it, four of them should be grouped their colors are Red, Green, Blue, Yellow...Red and Green are the A wires or Positive wires and Blue and Yellow ar ethe B wires or Negative wires

- Solder the Blue and Yellow wires to the Black wire on the solar panel

- Solder the Red and Green wires to the Red wire on the solar panel

- Don't worry about that other wire we'll worry about that in the next step

- Youre fan should now be running you can add a switch if you want but thats up to you (i would because you dont want the fan constantly running you want to be able to build up a power charge in the solar panel if you want to use at night or inside

Okay!!!! that may have been hard to follow but i put up the wiring diagram i made and the wires are color coded to what they actually are so onto the next step...

Step 2: Step 2: Building the Control System

Okay its time to build the control system!...this will be able to control the power level being inputted to everything from the wind turbine, control the level of power being outputted to the track, and be able to change the polarity of the electromagnets..
you'll need:

- Wood to make box 1/4" thick
- Wood to make box top 1/8" thick
- 16 mall screws longer than 1/4"
- 2 potentiometers
- 2 spst switches
- 2 dpdt switches
- black solid core wiring (or which ever color you want and it doen't have to be solid core)
- red solid core wiring (or which ever color you want and doesn't have to be solid core)
- blue solid core wiring (or which ever color you want and doesn't have to be solid core)
- insulated female disconnect terminals (enough for all the wires) (or you could solder the wires which is what im going to do and is how i tell you how to do it in this instructable)
- wire cutter/crimper/stripper
- drill (to drill wholes in the 1/8" thick wood peice
- 1/4" size drill bits (im using toggle switches so i have now screws for the potentiometers or switches so if use ones that have screws figure out what size the screws are for the drill bit size)
- pair of steady hands
- solder and soldering iron if your soldering this instead of using the disconnect terminals

Okay lets start this...

- You remember that extra cable from the wind turbine i told you about well its time to use that, solder it to one of the end attachments on one of the potentiometers

- Solder a blue wire to the other end attachment on that potentiometer

- solder the other end of that blue wire to one of the end attachments/terminals of a spst switch

- Solder a blue wire to the other end attachment/terminal on that spst switch

- solder the other end of the that blue wire to an end attachment/terminal on the other potentiometer

- solder a blue wire to the other end attachment/terminal of that potentiometer

- Solder the other end of that blue wire to one of the end attachments/terminals on the other spst switch

- Solder a red wire to from the other end attachment/terminal on the spst switch to the middle attachment/terminal on either side of one of dpdt switches

- Solder another red wire from the same attachment/terminal on that spst switch to either middle attachment/terminal of the other dpdt switch

- Solder a black wire to the other middle attachment/terminal on the spst switch to the other middle attachment/terminal on both dpdt switches just like you did with the red wires

- Solder a red wire from one of the end attachment/terminals on the same side as the red wire soldered to the middle end attachment/terminals on a dpdt switch to the end attachment/terminal catycorner from it on the black side, do the same for the other dpdt switch

- Solder a black wire from one of the end attachment/terminals on the same side as the black wire thats soldered to the middle end attachment/terminals on a dpdt switch to the end attachment/terminal catycorner from it on the red side, do the same for the other dpdt switch

- Solder a red wire to one of the end attachments on the red side of both and then solder a black wire to the other end attachment/terminal on the black side at the same end as you did the red do this for both dpdt switches

- Thes wires will have to be long enough to go to the track

now its time to make the control box

- Cut a 2" x 3" (height by width) block from the 1/8" thick wood drill six 1/4" wholes into it (if your using all 1/4" mounting whole switches and diameters)

- Cut two 3" x 2" x 2" (hieght x length x hieght) block out of the 1/4" thick wood

- Cut one 3" x 2 1/2" (hieght x length) block out of the 1/4"thick wood

- Cut one 2" x 2 1/2" (hieght x length) block out of the 1/4" thick wood

- Cut a 2" x 3" (height x width) block out of the 1/4" thick wood

- Your screws will be on the top and bottom

- Screw one of the 3" x 2" x 2" blocks to one of the 2" sides of the 3"x 2" 1/8" thick block one screw should be at the top and one should be at the bottom of the 1/8" thick block do the same for the other side

- Slide the 3" x 2 1/2" block between the two blocks at the taller end and do the same for the 2" x 2 1/2" block to the shorter side

- Drill a half inch whol into the back of the box (taller end)

- Hook up the wiring to the 1/8" thick peice on the inside of the box

- Flip the box over and place the 1/4" thick 2" x 3" block onto the bottom of the box and screw it on screw in a screw into it at the end of each block on both ends

you should now be complete...use the two pictures to help with the two parts to this step...on to the next step...

Step 3: Step 4: What to Do When You Build Your Track and Car

Okay like i said im not going to tell you how to build the track and car because i want you to be able to have the self pride of knowing that you came up with the idea for your track and car on your own instead of just copying someone elses. Well first on your car your going to need a magnet with the south pole facing down and a magnet with the north pole facing down on the other side... the magnets might try to repel so gorrilla glue them down 1 at a time...you might want to paint both magnets two differnt colors so you know which is south and which is north...line your track with non - repelling magnets to keep the car levitated...for the electromagnets you could wire a bunch of small peices together into two different sets 1 being wired with together with all black wires that will be your A e.m. magnets connect the black and red wire from one of the dpdt switch to one of the copper peices on this section and do the same for the other section and switch but wire the other section with red wire... youll now be able to turn the e.m. magnets off and on and control their polarity...know heres where you do the rest make your track your own way out of your own materials and your car out of your own materials the way you want to make them be creative and keep in mind that the car works best if its more areodynamic... you can mod this instructable anyway you want and redisng the system to make it work better if you want... actually if you have the resources do do it...also remeber this instructable is just in the bloue print stages of the actuall final product and the product probably wont be complete till the end of summer vacation of 2011 so the electrical wiring and everything might not work like the way i want it to but ive checked with a bunch of technical engineers and technichians and they said what i have should work spot on and do what i want it to do so create; experiment; and grow;... have fun. "ALIGNMENT-MOMENTUM-GROWTH, CREATING THE CONTEXT OF NEXT"