The Levitating World Globes The assortment of Globes is made by Fascinations, inc.

I purchased this wonderful electromagnetic levitation device online at www.giftsunusual.biz. With Design In Mind could not be found at their warranty card address. I could not locate Pacific Levitation Systems Inc., either. Both may be out of business.

I opened the bottom cover plate to see inside this awesome science toy. I could not see everything as I would have had to destroy it to get it apart.

How I think it works !!!

The 8 inch world globe contains a large magnet inside the top and a small magnet inside the bottom. The top of the stand contains a large iron core electromagnet. The bottom of the stand contains a Hall effect magnetic field strength sensor. This senses the position of the globe by sensing the field strength from the small magnet in the bottom of the globe. The sensor provides input to the feedback circuit which controls the current provided to the electromagnet in the top of the stand. This feedback control circuit holds the globe in mid air. It provides rock stable levitation.

The base of the stand is a large heat sink with some power transistors and parts I could not see without breaking the welded plastic. I could not see the Hall effect sensor. I will not break my $89 toy to try to see it! If you are a smart electrical engineer, you may be able to build this wonderful stable levitation system. It is no longer sold as far as I can tell. When you place the globe in the stand (in mid air), there is a solid notch it stays in. If you pull down on the globe, you can hear the circuit transformer hum as it sends more current to the top electromagnet to pull the globe up. This is a very good, very stable feedback control circuit. I have left it on for at least 8 hours at a time. The base gets warm. If you give the globe a good spin, it will spin for about 20 minutes before it slows down from air friction and the friction of the magnetic field itself. When you unplug the stand, the globe drops. The large magnet in the top of the globe will hold the globe hanging from the stand top when the power is off.

This thing is a really unusual gift!!!