Va Tech RIDE project

[R.I.D.E.]

This was the conclusion portion of the 88 page document after they worked on it for one year.

"The hydraulic pump motor has a significant potential for vehicular use. However to properly evaluate the capabilities and reliability of such a system will require more refinement of the prototype. Machining issues, leakage and assembly must be refined before peoper tersting can take place.

After such issues are resolved, the overall concept of the design should provide cheap and economical vehicular transportation which should rival the fuel efficiencies of the electric hybrids."

Their biggest problem with machining was the milling machine itself, as well as their limited machining experience.

The design requires critical tolerances of close to 1 thousandth inch, between the pistons, cylinders and the interface of the cylinders and main journal, especially in a real world functional pump motor with pressures as high as 5000 PSI.

I found out at the last meeting that they did not have any welding capabilities. This crucial factor caused them to spend almost 100 man hours working on the master cylinder and the two slipper cylinders, where the condition of their obsolete CNC machine (not even liquid cooled, and chattering) caused the tolerances to exceed the design specifications by a factor of 10.

I could have made the same parts using a simple lathe and welding two basically tubular parts together in a matter of less than 3 hours.

Sadly my on hands help with the Tech team was prohibited so they would be "on their own" for proper grading.

I believe, based on conversation with the Professor, that they will continue working on the design next year, with the current configuration as the starting point, and hopefully better equipment available.

I have made arrangements with a local machine shop owner, who does sub contract work for NASA to build my own prototypes, based on the engineering analysis of the Tech team, which was totally positive, with the exception of their acknowledged equipment limitations. The local machinist has over 30 years experience and no equipment issues.

To test for efficiency, I intend to build a simple portable model that uses two accumulators. Pressurizing one accumulator and running the fluid through the prototype to another accumulator will provide exact measurements as to the energy losses in one cycle through the pump motor.

Once efficiency has been determined then that percentage can be added to the charts to determine vehicle mileage potential.

regards
gary

[GasSavers_BEEF]

have you thought about going to investors with your idea?

I know you have talked with auto makers about it and gotten nowhere.

you could possibly start up an aftermarket company to add this to existing vehicles. the professors at VT may be interested in investing since they have worked with it and see the potential first hand.

(I have no money to invest sadly)

[dkjones96]

Originally Posted by BEEF

I know you have talked with auto makers about it and gotten nowhere.

Getting something to OEM is hard. They want a 6 sigma manufacturing process in place and getting to that isn't easy. They don't usually buy an idea off of you and begin manufacturing on an aftermarket part, they'll ask you to produce it.

[R.I.D.E.]

There are investors who are watching the progress. Until I can provide proof of efficiency, any investor will wan't exponentially greater ownership percentage per dollar invested. I have a fairly significant amount of funds, over 20 k, of my own money for the project. That could go higher if I want to spend money that belongs to both my wife anyd myself.

At this point in the process I would rather stick with personal financing, because when outside investors become involved, they have the power to determine priorities, and the time I can now spend on R&D would become time spent answering investor questions and more politics and beaurocracy.

The drive system patent is still waiting patent office review, which will happen this fall.

The positive results of the Tech group, and their calculations for losses, which were very small, are leaps foreward, while their inability to finish the prototype and produce real efficiency calculations from a working machine were somewhat of a disappointment.

Bottom line, is they think it will work, which confirms my beliefs. Every member of the Tech team thought the design was great. In fact one of them introduced me to his parents and called me a genius. Thats really embarassing personally, I don't like the term, it's been really hard work to realize any progress on this endeavor, much more so than I ever could have believed or anticipated.

Another one of the students told me it was the most fascinating think he had ever worked on in his life. I told all of them to stay in touch, because they were the first group of professional engineers that really looked this thing over carefully.

If Tech proposes financial backing and an ownership agreeement, my quest is over.

I am going to see my machinist this morning. Just two nights ago I figured out how to make a very simple desktop demonstrator to prove efficiency, which has always been the crucial data in determining what kind of mileage a vehicle could obtain.

After that I am going to build my driveable Karmann Ghia based vehicle, so real world fuel consumption can be determined, and people can actually RIDE in the thing.

Hopefully by the end of this year, I will have a patent, desk top model, and a operational vehicle. Those goals were not determined until I had the confirmation of the concept from Tech.

I am also pursuing it from the political direction with my local district member of the US house of representatives.

I never messed with people or their money in 30 years working on cars, and I understand the reluctance to fund a small fry in competition with huge corporate conglomerates. For the time being funding is not the essential component. I actually would find a small grant from some federal entity just about perfect over the next year, but from my experience they have about as much imagination as a Slug.

regards
gary

[dkjones96]

There are some big players in the hydraulic hybrid game. Including the EPA:

http://www.epa.gov/oms/technology/

The only difference being they are putting a system together for trucks and buses.

[GasSavers_maximilian]

Another one.

http://www.valentintechnologies.com/...ks/default.asp

[R.I.D.E.]

I have studied both Valentin's and the EPA designs extensively, meaning many hours of reading and research. The head of the Tech team told me my design has at least 3 distinct advantages over any existing pump motor design. My configuration would allow hydraulic hybrid bicycles, due to its light weight and compactness.


The cornerstone of the arch that will be the future hydraulic hybrid is the pump motor I have concieved. The EPA design uses the hydraulic pump through an otherwise conventional differential. The problem with that configuration is the pump has to run at much higher speeds and in their applications only two wheel drive is utilized. At those higher speeds efficiency suffers dramatically, down from 93% to 75% which eliminates engine cycling as a operational strategy.

Valentin had the right idea and paid the New York Times $75,000 for a full page ad 20 years ago. His in wheel drives are based on a bent axis variable displacement pump, but his pump is still a reciprocating design and requires low pressure accumulator pressures in the range of 200 PSI due to the reciprocating nature of the design. It's and axial configuration, where centrifugal forces work on the sides of the pistons. His free piston engine is better, but it still is a reciprocating engine. My origial engine design is not a reciprocating engine. Google "animated engines gnome" to see Matt Keveneys animation of the original rotary engine.

My design is a true rotary pump, without reciprocating components, which cost a significant amount of energy due to the reciprocating nature of their design.

Valentins design was very close to mine, with the exception being the in wheel motor itself. He has been chasing his dream for so long most of his patents have expired. I especially like Valentin's use of the suspension components as couduits for hydraulic fluid. It shows real imagination to utilize one essential component to accomplish two esential functions. Valentin was very much a pioneer in hydraulic hybrids, but he has a very abrasive personality that makes interaction with others a real chore for all involved.

Valentin has become much like Paul Mollar who has been chasing his dream of a flying car since the 1960'S, now he is more of a money collector than an inventor. My design possible could make his dream feasible. Another design configuration woudl be an air conditioning system that moves and compresses large volumes of the air itself and cools the compressed air, without and refirgerant whatsoever. Many years ago a system called ROVAC was concieved to do the same thing using a rotary vane pump.

Tesla, who is current the nomme celebre in the electric car field, has spent 75 million on his dream. His problem is the lifespan issue of the lithium batteries, as well as the replacement cost. Even his desgin would benefit substantially from my in wheel drives instead of a transmissionless configuration.

My design started out as an engine design, with variable displacement and the capability to convert the engine itself into its own storage using the mass of the engine as a flywheel by eliminating all piston movement relative to the cylinders by adjusting the stroke position to 0 while the engine is still spinning on its central axis. The first documentation of that design will be 5 years old in August.

The in wheel drive was a later development, which began with a spark of imagination after building the model I have shown before on this site. Reversing the pistons and cylinders and eliminating the connecting rods was the 2006 design, and evolutionary but crucially important part of the system design.

The goal of the whole process has now focused on the weight and power of the in wheel units, with the priority being to replace the conventional braking system with in wheel regenerative drives without increasing the weight.

Driven by accumulator pressure alone (no engine or motor whatsoever) the vehicle could accelerate once to 80Mph and recover 85% of that energy in regeneration, while still maintaining a better than 85% efficiency in engine-pump-accumulator-pump normal drive mode without storage. Adding the storage capability allows the engines average efficiency to be doubled by cycling the engine on and off with the running cycle only in the ideal BSFC portion of the map.

Combined with improved aero and lower rolling resistance tires, with the reduced weight due to less complex powertrain components. I believe Valentin's fuel economy projections are correct, a 2500 pound 5 passenger vehicle that could average 120 MPG.

The powertrain design is independent of the consumable primer energy conversion source.

That means the vehicle could be powqered by electricity or IC, or any other source that was desired. Currently you have different fields or pursuit without mutual cooperation in the field of automotive development. They fight each other for funding and create uncertainity in the minds of potential investors. No one wants to hitch their funding to the wrong horse and loose the race.

My system eliminates the necessity for parallel development of different strategies. Evem an electric configuration would benefit from a regenerative hydraulic powertrain.

This allows for any breakthrough in the several different strategies to be utilized almost instantly.

regards
gary

[Jetta90GL]

You could fill your system up with Ronnzoil Hydraulic Fluid and be completely "green". If any auto manufacture would be interested in your system, I would think it would be these guys:

http://www.ronnmotors.com/cms/index....est&Itemid=112