Enigma 1050 – Brand New British Motorcycle

             If there's a constant on The Kneeslider, it's our preference for seeing projects being built, when people decide their ideas are worth the effort and actually make them happen. This brand new British motorcycle, the Enigma 1050, is our latest example. Jim Lindsay, the man behind it all, sent us the background to how it came about.

              The Enigma 1050 project was born out of Jim Lindsay’s lifelong love affair with motorcycles in general and British engineering in particular. Jim, who makes a living as a Macintosh computer specialist, used to earn his living as a journalist in the UK and still freelances for the bike press over there.

               Enigma started as an idea for a series of pieces on the UK bike industry, that is, until his wife, Margaret, hearing Jim's frustration with British manufacturing far too many times, suggested that he should build a bike instead, responding to Jim's "Someone should!" with the simple and powerful "Well, how about you?"

                   That was back in October 2011. Jim put together a team consisting of legendary Tigcraftframe builder Dave Pearce, joint owner of suspension specialists K-Tech, Chris Taylor, engine tuner and Dymag Wheels distributor Larry Webb and machining specialist Mick Edwards ofPromach. Impressive!

                    Since then, a low mileage Triumph Speed Triple 1050 has been bought and stripped for its engine, exhaust and electrics. The main frame is built. Work on the swingarm has started. The fork yokes are about to be machined from billet, construction of the Carbon Fiber Dymag wheels has commenced and initial work on the bodywork has begun.

                     The braking system in its entirety is being supplied by the Coventry UK manufacturer, AP Racing.

                     The man who will be making the alloy fuel tank and the molds for the carbon fiber bodywork is Terry Hall. Terry knows quite a bit about shaping metal. He spent much of his working life hand building armor for the British Household Cavalry who are deployed on many ceremonial occasions in London.

                      The team is aiming to build a road oriented motorcycle with all day comfort, stunning looks, top quality components and, given the heritage of the frame and suspension, handling that will keep it up front of the advanced group on a track day should the owner so wish.
                     The Triumph three pot 1050 lump is a great road engine. It may be long in the tooth by now (it was first laid down in 1997) but it’s flat torque curve and respectable 121 bhp (tested) makes it a great power plant for real world motorcycling.

                    The target date for completion of the prototype is April 2012 and initial testing will be carried out at the demanding UK circuit of Cadwell Park.

                  All the team members are former racers and road riders. They are all hands on as well. Jim will be undertaking the majority of the final assembly and he will also be the initial test rider.

                  All the businesses involved in the project are small. Free of long chains of command, they have been able to get the project from a discussion into metal in a relatively short time.
Jim says that he has had two sales inquiries already and that if there is sufficient interest, the team will be looking to sell production models in both kit and ready built form.

                  Jim stresses that the visuals are just that – pre-production concept illustrations that were done even before he had removed the engine from the donor bike. They visual will be updated on the site as development progresses.

                  The team also has two further bikes planned again based on Triumph engines and majoring on British components.

                      The Enigma looks like an excellent start on a home grown British motorcycle. The assembled team brings a lot of talent and experience, the work already done in the short time they've been at it shows this group means business, no endless discussions and planning sessions, just a lot of hard work and problem solving as they move ahead.

This is a project well worth watching and one that should generate a lot of interest. The potential for kits as well as fully built motorcycles is an exciting addition. We'll keep you posted as more information comes in.

LINK :- http://enigma1050.co.uk/

ZERO IMPACT VEHICLE

Christopher Latta’s ZIV or Zero Impact Vehicle is a futuristic vehicle specially designed to be an environment friendly car. The ZIV two wheeler is powered by hydrogen-fueled cells and is equipped with a motionless rim that controls all propulsion and breaking functions.

The same way a maglev trail flies down its tracks, the tires of the ZiV propel its occupants to their next destination. Designed by Chris Latta, the Zero impact Vehicle (ZiV) is just that, zero impact means no environmental emissions. The only emission is water from the system’s super efficient hydrogen fuel cell. The fuel cell generates the power needed to control both the levitation magnets and the propulsion magnets. Levitation magnets hold the tire floating free, only millimeters from the stationary rim while propulsion magnets control the movements of the tire, acceleration and braking.

With all turning controlled by the propulsion magnets, the rims don’t have to move for correcting direction; the tire on one side merely slows down allowing the vehicle to turn. The magnets reverse polarity and bring the tire to a gentle, controlled stop in the event of braking. The interior has enough room to seat two for comfortable trips to the store or a short weekend trip to the beach. Driven with two joysticks like a skid steer or bobcat, the ZiV is nimble and easily controlled. With its compact size, no moving parts and no emissions, the ZiV really is the next step in urban travel.

The two-seater ZIV or Zero Impact Vehicle concept has been designed to offer a greener life style for busy urban environment by using recycled or reclaimed materials only. This futuristicvehicle is powered by a hydrogen fuel cell that generates water only as the final mechanical waste that can be collected in a holding tank for later use. The motionless rim design makes thevehicle unique where the tire travels around the rim by utilizing maglev train like magnets that controls all propulsion and braking functions. Being placed right under the time, the levitation magnets act as shock absorbers too. Balance on rough terrain is achieved through more powers on the magnets by the fuel cell and zero radius turning can be done with ZIV because of its two tires design, making it easier to park and navigate on busy city streets.

Another feature of Zero Impact Vehicle is the reuse of the waste that can be stored in a tank. The ZIV has an interesting design that makes it easier to navigate and park.

FOKI – Floor Cleaner Shoe

Adika Titut Triyugo has designed a pair of special shoes called ‘Foki’ that can be used to clean floors and also help in multiple household activities. The indoor shoes are powered by a rechargeable battery and contain two rotary cleaner devices on their bottoms.





Foki shoes also feature LED displays which help users to display the clean level of their surroundings. Foki shoes are an easy to use device which keeps your house clean as well as supports you in various other activities.

Mobula Concept: Giant Luxury Futuristic Craft Flies Over The Waters

The Mobula concept is the work of designer Chris Cooke, and takes inspiration for its form from the stingray. It is a giant luxury craft that has room for 1000 people, and despite its giant form it can glide over the seas at high speeds. It is basically a Ground Effect Vehicle, utilizing the effect for greater efficiency and higher speeds.

The designer has taken care to make the project as realistic as possible, its huge wings were perfected in a wind tunnel to allow efficient low-altitude flying, and winglets on these wings add greater efficiency. Its four exterior hulls keep the craft stable when floating on the surface of water, and when in air, they deflate to minimize drag during flight.

MoonRider hybrid motorcycle takes care of your flying needs

Eco Factor: Hybrid concept motorcycle harvests renewable solar energy.

The MoonRider concept motorcycle by Marko Design isn’t just a hybrid in terms of its engine, but also when it comes to operation. The concept integrates a zero-emission electric motorcycle and a jet-engine powered aircraft into an ultra-lightweight body that can be driven or flown through urban towns.

The MoonRider features electronic controls that balance the vehicle when it is being driven. With a two-wheel based construction, each of the front tandem-wheels is driven by its own electric motor. The electric batteries are juiced-up by solar panels included in the vehicle’s frontal part.

Energy for flying comes from a powerful plasma jet engine, which will be a replacement for today’s turbo jet engines. To make flight possible, the designer aims to develop the vehicle from lightweight composite materials which along with an aerodynamic design will help this machine take on the sky in an efficient manner.

Quasi turbine

INTRODUCTION

Quasi turbine is a zero vibration continuous combustion rotary engine having four faces articulated rotor with a free and accessible centre rotating without vibration nor dead time and producing a strong torque at low rpm under a variety of modes and fuels. The quasi turbine is also an optimization theory for extremely compact efficient engine concept.

It is a new engine concept from Canada offers a design similar to that of rotary engines but with the advantages of a gas turbine-all within the confines of a chamber based on the shape of a Saint Hilaire skating rink profile. Each Quasi turbine device is at the cross road of three modern engines: inspired by the turbines: it perfects the piston, and improves on the Wankel. The Quasi turbine results from a research initiated in 1993 aimed at unifying the compression and power turbine into one entity. This invention is a new hybrid engine concept, midway between the piston and the turbine engine which requires relatively few components such as stator with covers, rotating blades, rocking carriages, wheels, and joints. Quasiturbine is also an environmental friendly engine, which provides an engine concept free from atmospheric gas pollution, noise pollution, thermal pollution etc. In this engine efficiency stays constant and optimum no matter the power of the unit.
Inventors: - Francoise, Gilles, Roxan

The Quasiturbine or Qurbine engine is a proposed pistonless rotary engine using a rhomboidal rotor whose sides are hinged at the vertices. The volume enclosed between the sides of the rotor and the rotor casing provide compression and expansion in a fashion similar to the more familiar wankel engine but the hinging at the edges allows the volume ratio to increase. Unlike vane pumps, which vane extension is generally important and against which the pressure acts to generate the rotation, the Quasiturbine contour seals have a minimal extension and the rotation does not result from pressure against these seals.

Patents for the Quasiturbine (in the most general AC concept with carriages) are held by the Saint-Hilaire family of Quebec. As well as an internal combustion engine, the Quasiturbine has been proposed as a possible pump design, and a possible Stirling engine. It has been demonstrated as a pneumatic engine using stored compressed air, and as a steam engine.

There are at least four proposed designs:

• Two-port with carriages, suitable for use as an  internal combustion engine.
• Four-port without carriages, suitable for use as a pneumatic or hydraulic engine, steam engine or pump.
• Two-port without carriages, a conceptual design which is hoped to combine some of the advantages of the existing two- and four-port prototypes.
• Another conceptual design using a fixed charge of gas, with no ports and without carriages, as a Stirling engine. (But not yet referring Malone engine in spite of similar function to Stirling engine)

The main problems with this design are

• it has far more moving parts than the Wankel engine
• it has never been shown to work as an internal combustion engine
• for all other possible uses there are many other designs that are more reliable and function more efficiently

OBJECTIVES OF QUASITURBINE

Object of this invention is to provide new engine concept unifying the compressor and power turbine into one entity that is a conventional gas turbine engine. Another object of this invention is to provide a low noise, perfectly balanced, zero vibration, low r.p.m engine, giving less time to compression and expansion stroke and allowing more time and volume to the intake combustion stroke.

A further object of this invention is to provide a fast accelerating, zero dead time and to provide an engine almost universal to energy sources, which can run efficiently on pneumatic, steam, hydraulic, liquid and gas fuel internal combustion.

Another object is to provide an engine, which has a short pressure peak, cold intake area characteristics, so that it is suitable for photo detonation mode pure hydrogen fuel combustion.

Another object is to provide a high weight and volume density engine, without need of any valve, check valve or obstruction and within neither a crankshaft nor a flywheel.

Two-port with carriages

The earliest Quasiturbine design used a three-wheeled carriage (French chariot, hence avec chariots or AC for with carriages) to support each vertex of the rotor. The wheels of these four carriages, making twelve wheels in total, ran around the periphery of the engine chamber.

A prototype of an internal combustion engine to this design was constructed, and enthusiastically reviewed in European Automotive design magazine September, 1999. The prototype was turned by an external engine for 40 hours.

However, ignition with fuel was never achieved. If it was attempted no results were ever released, and development work on this design was suspended.

Advantages

• Cylinder ports in place of valves reduce the number of moving parts, in common with the Wankel engine and some two stroke engines.
• The carriages keep the seals almost perpendicular to the cylinder walls, in contrast to the Wankel engine where the angle varies plus and minus 60°.
• The rotor can be designed so its center of gravity remains stationary or nearly so, minimising vibration.
• Sixteen strokes per revolution of the rotor, as opposed to twelve for a single-rotor Wankel engine and two for a revolution of the crankshaft of a single-cylinder single-acting piston engine.

Four-port without carriages

Quasiturbine QT-SC 

The second Quasiturbine design is greatly simplified to eliminate the carriages (French sans chariots or SC). At the same time, the ports were duplicated on the opposite side of the housing, thus converting the operation from four strokes per cycle to two and doubling the number of cycles per rotor revolution. This mechanism has been demonstrated running as a pneumatic engine using stored compressed air, and also as a steam engine. This is also the design proposed for use as a pump, and particularly as a supercharger.

This design uses redesigned blades, longer than those for a similar sized housing of the first type owing to the absence of the carriages, and lacking the distinctive crown contour. Only the basic rotor geometry is common with the earlier design.

A pneumatic engine of this design was demonstrated powering a go-kart in November 2004, and another powering a small car in September 2005, both vehicles using stored compressed air to power the engine. As of 2005 a pneumatic chain saw driven by an air hose from a conventional external compressor is under development.

With a suitably redesigned housing to allow for thermal expansion, the same rotor design has been demonstrated as a steam engine.

Another potential variation of this design uses the two sets of ports independently, one as an engine and the other as a pump, thus potentially integrating the functions of a pump and its driving motor in one shaftless unit. One restriction of this usage is that the two fluids must be similar; It would not be possible for example to drive an integrated air pump with hydraulic fluid, as the rotor design is significantly different. As of 2005 no prototype of this variation has been demonstrated.

Advantages

• Fewer moving parts than most engines (including of course the Quasiturbine design with carriages).
  • Absence of valve gear required by many other forms of steam and pneumatic engines.
• Little vibration.
• High power-to-weight ratio.
• Possibility of integrated turbo pump and turbo-expander configurations.

History

The Quasiturbine was conceived by a group of 4 researchers, led by Dr. Gilles Saint-Hilaire, a thermonuclear physicist, and consisting of members of his immediate family. The original objective was to make a turbo-shaft turbine engine where the compressor portion and the power portion would be in the same plane. In order to achieve this, they had to disconnect the blades from the main shaft, and chain them around in such a way that a single rotor acts as a compressor for a quarter turn, and as an engine the following quarter of a turn.

The general concept of the Quasiturbine was first patented in 1996. Small pneumatic and steam units are available from the patent holders for sale or hire for research, academic training and industrial demonstration, as is a book (largely in French) describing the concepts and development of the design. Demonstrations have been done on an Air Gokart in 2004, on « APUQ Air Car » in 2005, on the University of Connecticut « Brash Steam Car » in 2010, and other products (Chainsaw and generator).

The patent holders have announced that they intend to make similar internal combustion prototypes available for demonstration.