Poudre used a metal plate on a separate track that would slide to absorb the energy so the mag lev slowed down gently.sr243 wrote:Just wondering what is the normal stopping mechanism at the competitions? I know when this was done last year as a trial event in WI, there was nothing to stop it from going past the track. The best stopping mechanism was using a magnetic plate that curved up to catch the car. It caught our mag-lev which was like 2 pounds going at 2+ m/s.
We found that things like a foam stoppers were not safe since the sled had more thrust then needed to leave the track. With a sudden stop the sled would come off the track and the blades would explode.