Spin_stabilized_magnetic_levitation
Spin-stabilized magnetic levitation is a phenomenon of magnetic levitation whereby a spinning magnet or array of magnets (typically as a top) is levitated via magnetic forces above another magnet or array of magnets, and stabilised by gyroscopic effect due to a spin rate that is neither too fast, nor too slow to allow for a necessary precession.
The phenomenon was originally discovered through invention by Vermont inventor Roy M. Harrigan in the 1970s. On May 3, 1983 Harrigan received a United States patent for his original levitation device based upon this phenomenon he discovered.[1][2] Independent of Harrigan, a Pennsylvanian inventor named Joseph Chieffo made the same discovery in 1984 employing a flat base magnet, a geometry that proved a significant change over his predecessor's patented design which relies upon a dish shaped mounting of magnets for the base. Chieffo's design, publicized in a 1991 edition of the periodical "Magnets In Your Future",[3] further differed from Harrigan's in its incorporation of an un-weighted top.[4][5] Harrigan's technology, either solely or in conjunction with Chieffo's published flat-base variation, provided the basis for the development of mass marketed levitating toy tops sold under the brand name, 'Levitron'.
In 2012[6] and 2014[7] Max Michaelis reported operating Levitron brand magnetic tops at inclination angles of 45° and 90° (i.e. with the spin axis, horizontal) after employing novel configurations for the supporting magnetic fields.