Sterling Engine..........just another 'IT'

[dlavery]

Originally Posted by sejeff

Kamen thinks he developed a sterling engine, oh goodness. NASA hasn't even been able to do that, and they have sent people to the MOON.

NASA didn't? Gee, that will be a surprise to everyone that worked on the Stirling engine project that successfully transitioned the completed technology into commercial application years ago. And it will be a real surprise to all the people at Sunpower Inc that have been selling Stirling engines based on the NASA-developed technology for nearly a decade.

-dave



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[Not2B]

Originally Posted by dlavery

NASA didn't? Gee, that will be a surprise to everyone that worked on the Stirling engine project that successfully transitioned the completed technology into commercial application years ago.

Dave's right. I've stood next to operational, HUGE, Stirling engines. Not impossible. Just more challenging that making oatmeal.

[colin340]

Originally Posted by Not2B

Dave's right. I've stood next to operational, HUGE, Stirling engines. Not impossible. Just more challenging that making oatmeal.

best line ever

and people youtube it there are tons of working sterlings out there may of which were made in the 1800s with less efficient materials with lower tolerances
there are also many diaphragms sterlings out there made of soda bottles, latex balloons, cardboard, wire I have even seen one power a canoe

I'm disappointed in your lack of imagination and how you pretty much made a attack thread what if deka was a team would you tear down their ideas??

-colin

[ayeckley]

Originally Posted by dlavery

NASA didn't? Gee, that will be a surprise to everyone that worked on the Stirling engine project that successfully transitioned the completed technology into commercial application years ago.

Anyone familiar with Theromacoustic Stirling Heat Engines (TASHEs)? No moving parts - just oscillating high pressure helium gas available to do your bidding (aka "mechanical work"). My company primarily uses them in combination with Pulse Tube Cryo-coolers (no moving parts there either). Lots of interesting applications. Fun to think of what the lifespan of these devices might be - hundreds of years? Thousands?

The originally poster was clearly just trolling for some reason. I suppose I've taken the bait as well...

[Fireworks 234]

Not to get off topic but....this was covered a little in the original article.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,449303,00.html

This is an entire article on Dean Kamen talking about his 2008 DEKA Revolt. I think it's kind of interesting.

[KarenH]

Originally Posted by sejeff

Remember IT, you know the most awesomest invention ever. Get ready for 'that', as in 'that was another waste of our time'. Kamen thinks he developed a sterling engine, oh goodness. NASA hasn't even been able to do that, and they have sent people to the MOON. A feat much more complicated than installing gyroscopes on a two wheeled platform. Don't get me wrong, I love Kamen, he has made my gf's life so much easier with the insulin pump, and giving clean water to all the malnurished dessert people in Africa. BUT, this is another waste of our time!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/mai..._deankamen.xml

What do you all think of this???

Welcome back to FIRST! Things have changed a little bit in FIRST and in these forums, so do take plenty of time to observe before you start posting a lot. Hint: when you do post, the spell checker is now automatic, so any words with a dotted red line under them are being flagged; a right click on the word will give you possible corrections. I don't know if the spell checker works with thread titles.

Back on topic: If you read the entire article carefully, you'll notice that DEKA's clean water machine relies on a functioning Stirling engine. These devices exist, and they work. As the article states, funding is the problem: "'The big companies...long ago figured out -- the people in the world that have no water and have no electricity have no money.'" Many of the technological problems with the Stirling engine have been solved, although more refinement is needed. (Heck, more refinement is needed on the automobile, and apparently on the iPhone and Wii as well!)

If anyone can get a Stirling engine to work well in an automobile, more power to him or her! Just over a hundred years ago, the internal combustion engine didn't work very well; once it was perfected to a certain level, the automobile and the airplane followed in short order.

As for the slow acceptance of the Segway, I think economics also plays a role--even more so than the crazy hype that preceded its unveiling. Most people think it costs too much, especially when they apply the customary transportation economics: "For $5,000, I can get a decent used car that can carry 4 people and their luggage, and it can go 80 miles per hour." The fact is that Segways are still being produced and sold, just at a lower rate than wild speculation predicted. Time will tell if they really are "successful."

[IKE]

IMO, one of the most relevant quotes from the article for this thread is:

"'You know, you have to be optimistic. If you weren't, you'd never start a really difficult project. That's why other people didn't start it - they're rational. So I start these big projects. And in my heart of hearts, I know, boy, a lot's going to go wrong. You just have to be willing to fail a lot and somehow keep your optimism. Well, in the case of the arm, we didn't do a lot of the failing. It went together beautifully.'"

Read about any inventor that has truly made a product (or products) that will change the world and you will find one thing in common. A lot of failed attempts. Why, because it is new and uncharted territory. If you have ever worked in a research area you will understand that no one venturing into the unknown succeeds every time.

I got the opportunity to work in one of these area in the Auto industry. These engineers were ridiculed by their fellow employees. Their failures were frequently cited. That being said, they had working KERS system 2 decades before F1 is using the technology. They made dual-clutch automatic transmissions in 1/3 the time of other more formal companies. They also are responsible for numerous inventions that we may see on future cars. People didn't get it because it wasn't main stream until a decade or 2 later.

Being a Visionary is a bit of a curse. There are a lot of human behaviors that completely defy logic, but are accepted as standard convention. Being a successful inventor (Like Dean is) is even tougher because you have proven "the World" wrong on many occasions. Unfortunately most of the World doesn't get it. Our society loves to build pedestals and put people on them. What it seems to love even more is to watch them fall off of those pedestals.

There are all sorts of technical issues to getting "useful" energy conversion from a sterling engine, but they are readily available (you can buy them online that run literally off of the heat from the palm of your hand). I saw a kid in HS make a working sterling from coffee cans, a lawnmower wheel, ans some copper lumbing with some steel wool. Where others failed is they tried to drive a car around using the Sterling like a conventional Gasoline engine. Not a good plan. Using it as an efficient and flex fuel generator.... they might be on to something.