Everyone likes hula hoops. Everyone likes railguns. Ergo: combine the two to create a self-propelled hula hoop.

By embedding magnetic accelerators within a circular tube of plastic which contains a ball bearing. Careful timing of the electromagnets will accelerate the ball bearing clockwise causing the hoop itself to spin counterclockwise. The motive power would have to come from thin battery-packs spread equidistantly around the hoop.

Now, with minimal hip rotation, you can hula-hoop for hours at hitherto unachievable speeds.
-- AusCan531, Jun 10 2012

Excellent! It should also be possible, if the ball bearing is magnetized, to recharge the batteries by active hula hooping.
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Jun 10 2012


But, but, [Max] that would mean working harder than with a normal hula hoop. Perhaps a battery pack on the hip could recharge the hoop mounted batteries via induction.

[bigsleep], the saving grace about an uncontrollably weaponized version is that being in the center of the hoop would be the safest place to be.
-- AusCan531, Jun 10 2012


You'd be a death-dealing one man commando squad - until you lost your bearings of course.
-- AusCan531, Jun 10 2012


Nice. [+]
-- doctorremulac3, Jun 11 2012


//By embedding magnetic accelerators within a circular tube of plastic which contains a ball bearing//
This is a coil gun, not a rail gun, shirley?
-- AbsintheWithoutLeave, Jun 11 2012


I keep reading this as "Religion Hula Hoop", and that would be cool, and probably start a real flamewar.
-- blissmiss, Jun 11 2012


it's called a gauss gun, though I suppose coil gun also portrays the idea

a railgun uses the inductive force created by the sudden change in electric field (created by simply turning the circuit on) to accelerate the projectile, which is part of the circuit
-- EdwinBakery, Jun 11 2012



random, halfbakery