Magnetic Shoes
Walking on the roof
This experiment is inspired by a YouTuber, Colinfurze, and several movies. What could be better than walking on the ceiling of a metal surface— in this case, my garage with a couple of magnetic shoes. All of it was made using reused materials.
Design and construction
Shoes designed for walking on the ceiling must be simple and reliable to avoid failure and falling. These shoes are securely attached to a steel plate using M8 bolts and slings.The element that allows adhesion to the ceiling consists of two electromagnets made from microwave oven transformers. These 800W transformers have been modified by removing the 2100V high-voltage winding, leaving only the 220V coil.
When this coil is powered with 12V DC, it becomes a high-power magnet. To enable ceiling walking, the electromagnets are connected to a battery through a normally closed switch. This setup ensures the magnetic field is always active, holding the user to the ceiling—except when lifting a foot to take a step.
Test and results
After many attempts and impacts, it became clear that the magnetic field generated was not strong enough to keep a single shoe attached to the ceiling and support movement. To solve this, the power was doubled by connecting each electromagnet to 24V with a current draw of 10A. With this increased power, it became possible to take several steps on the ceiling without experiencing any falls.
