Nikola Tesla is my hero!

[kandrathe]

I was just reading in "The Economist" about a return to using Tesla's design for AC motors. I think if it weren't for the disinformation campaign of Thomas Edison and General Electric, more schools would be named for him rather than Edison.

I often wonder what Tesla would have produced, if he had not torn up his contract with Westinghouse, and were he funded as well as his ex-boss Edison.

[shoju]

I love Tesla. I have often times found myself reading about him for hours on end. For that reason, I must not click your link until I"m at home, because I have a busy day today here at work

[ShadowHM]

And here I thought you must be playing Borderlands, because that is the name of one of the challenges inside that game!

The story of Tesla came to my attention back when I read Pierre Berton's Niagara: A History of the Falls, which (among many other things) discusses some of the lost opportunities due to Edison's self-aggrandizement campaign.

And, just for a fun note, the alternative history children's trilogy called Leviathan by Scott Westerfield has a Tesla Cannon featured in the second book. Nothing like sneaking a little science teaser into an action story to pique a kid's interest!

[Klaus]

I was just reading in "The Economist" about a return to using Tesla's design for AC motors. I think if it weren't for the disinformation campaign of Thomas Edison and General Electric, more schools would be named for him rather than Edison.

I often wonder what Tesla would have produced, if he had not torn up his contract with Westinghouse, and were he funded as well as his ex-boss Edison.

I'm not sure what you mean by "return to". Induction motors are used all over the place. Most stationary woodworking tools run on them ("benchtop" tools mostly use universal motors). Most industrial electric motors are induction (big machines driven by 3-phase motors). Even the whirling disc in your electric meter is an induction motor.

The trend towards permanent magnet motors has been primarily because they are smaller and lighter. The main reason benchtop woodworking tools don't use induction motors is because they're heavy.

[kandrathe]

I'm not sure what you mean by "return to". Induction motors are used all over the place. Most stationary woodworking tools run on them ("benchtop" tools mostly use universal motors). Most industrial electric motors are induction (big machines driven by 3-phase motors). Even the whirling disc in your electric meter is an induction motor.

The trend towards permanent magnet motors has been primarily because they are smaller and lighter. The main reason benchtop woodworking tools don't use induction motors is because they're heavy.

In fact, I contemplated installing a 3-phase converter into my garage rather than re-wire some industrial equipment I have. But, alas, another day.

Mostly I meant the increased popularity of variable frequency regulating speed 3-phase asynchronous induction motors beyond the industrial, now that we can adjust speed more precisely with circuitry.

http://www.torquenews.com/119/toyota-and...ric-motors

It is interesting that the US and Canada got out of rare earth production due to ecological pressures and being undercut by China's low labor costs, and now due to increases in demand, and production limitations on supply China is causing the world to innovate it's way out of part of the demand rather than cause them to re-open domestic mining operations.