As Electric Motors Impove, More Things Are Being Electrified
you ought to get into the habit of looking at a spectral analysis of the sound in your home. modern power supplies and motors rely on the ever more powerful and cheap power transistors that we have these days -- they are able to switch power on and off at very high frequencies and thus reduce the size of the rest of the circuitry needed to raise or lower voltage. but this often results in extremely high pitched sound coming from parts that, for whatever reason, physically move or expand in response to current or voltage changes. in cheap electronics, this effect is not accounted for and controlled with vibration dampening materials applied to the vibrating parts, and the result is a maddening high pitched squeal. even if humans arent able to hear it, there could be devices in your house that make some kinds of pets uncomfortable. ive been meaning to buy something that will let me detect ultrasonic sound so that i can smash those devices with a hammer.<p>ive always wondered what it would be like if you used a dual motor system in a car, where one motor is wound and sized for very high torque and the other motor is wound and sized for very high speed. i think it would be great because, as long as they were induction based motors, you could run one and leave the other off with no interference from the one that is turned off. it would be like having a transmission without any of the energy loss or maintenance problems. you could also distribute power however you want among the two motors, and in a way have something like an infinitely variable transmission. that would be really cool.