Re: Invention Idea

Luke -- one thing I'd recommend before going a whole lot further is to
read a book called "Will It Sell?", by James E. White
(www.willitsell.com). If what you want to do passes the "litmus tests"
in the book then PERHAPS you'd be justified spending money on it. I do
development for inventors on their inventions, and I keep a link to this
site on my Web site because I don't want to be taking money from people
who really shouldn't be spending money on their ideas. I have no
financial interest in Mr. White's enterprise. In fact I'd recommend
going to the library to find the book rather than buying it.

Another thing is to post in "alt.inventors" rather than
"sci.engr.manufacturing".

An additional step you should take is to elucidate ON PAPER your reasons
for believing the engineers and experts are wrong. Writing things down
forces you to be clear and logical. If you STILL think you have a good
idea then you should present your rebuttal to the engineers who earlier
said the idea contradicts laws of physics, or to some other expert who
can evaluate independently.

Finally, if you still think you have a good idea then I'd recommend
finding someone with AutoDesk Inventor to do the design work rather than
doing it yourself (and BTW, I DON'T use Inventor, so I apparently
wouldn't be a candidate to be your design person). Unless your
prototype involves a LOT of design work, the $5000 you're seeking would
be better spent that way . . . will likely get you significantly more
mileage. If your goal is to be able to learn and use Inventor, then
that's one thing, but if your goal is to design a WORKING prototype then
you're spinning your wheels. Inventor shouldn't be very hard to learn,
but it is NOT going to be just a breeze and you WILL spend a
considerable amount of time thrashing around with it, and your results
may not be all you expect them to be. In addition, the $500 you mention
for software would have to be for a student license -- the professional
version of Inventor costs many times that much. If the student version
of Inventor is like the student versions of some other similar softwares
then you will find problems printing out engineering drawings. And
although you plan on using a rapid prototyping "printer" to create some
of the parts, you're almost certainly going to find some drawbacks with
some of those parts and end up having some of them milled or otherwise
fabricated, which in turn will almost certainly require that you create
engineering drawings. Unless you're already an experienced drafter
you're going to make errors on the drawings which will cost you when you
take those drawings to get parts fabricated. This also means that
you're going to spend more on fabrication than you expect.

All in all, it seems likely to me that you're pushing in the wrong
directions in many ways.

One final note: there are hundreds and thousands of instances wherein
inventors have claimed that they can make what basically amounts to a
"perpetual motion machine" work, and IT HAS NEVER BEEN DONE. Period. A
perpetual motion machine isn't just something that moves without energy
input -- it's any machine that can supposedly put out more energy than
is put in. Don't kid yourself. CAN'T BE DONE. Magic only exists in
fairy tales.

Mark 'Sporky' Stapleton
Watermark Design, LLC
www.h2omarkdesign.com

"taylorluker@xxxxxxxxx" wrote:
>
> Hi everyone!!
>
> My name is Luke Taylor and I am new to the group.
>
> If you are interested I would welcome any advice you might have on my
> project. Basically I am looking for resources and/or advice to move my
> invention to the next step.
>
> I have an invention idea for a "method of propulsion." The concept
> includes pneumatics and magnets. My idea is different from anything
> currently on the market. I have had 3 consultations with engineers or
> experts and they have all have told me that the invention will not work
> and contradicts basic physics. I disagree and now that I have clearly
> identified why they say that idea won't work, I would like to build a
> basic prototype to demonstrate that the idea will work. I am done
> designing the idea conceptually, and I know think that I need to move
> to actual physically making the prototype. I plan to design the
> prototype on the Autocad Inventor Series and then used a 3D printer to
> print out the design. Here is the ballpark $5,000 budget:
>
> Research via Google Answers $200
> Text books (in order to research/purchase specific components) $200
> Desktop computer optimized for Autocad $1500
> LCD flat screen $500
> Components of prototype $170
> Autocad Inventor software $500
> 3D Printing of prototype $750
> Misc. costs $200
> Autocad Instruction Class $750
>
> If the prototype works it would create significant leverage to develop
> a real prototype instead of just a basic conceptual prototype. At
> that time I would like to hire a team including mechanical engineers,
> etc.= whose expertise will be invaluable in developing a real
> prototype. If the basic prototype doesn't work than I know that idea
> will not work in its present state.
>
> What do you think? Any advice? Any idea of how to find financial
> resources ($5,000)?
>
> Thanks
>
> Luke
.