Hybrid Scooter runs on Anything that Burns!

The creator of the Segway, Dean Kamen, has been working for the last few months on a new project that is some sort of Hybrid Scooter. The scooter makes use of a Stirling Engine and can run on almost anything that will burn.

The Stirling Engine has been around for nearly a couple of hundred years, but not many people have found a way or any use to make of such a low powered engine. This is where a small scooter comes in to play as the small engine that relies on heat to move 2 pistons to produce power which is enough to move the scooter and a person, although the engine doesn’t actually move the bike. More details after the quote…

The cycle begins with a small amount of heat being applied to the power cylinder. As the gas forces the piston down it turns the crankshaft and produces what would be a power stroke. Once at the bottom of its stroke, the power cylinder begins to rise again, relying on the momentum of the flywheel to maintain rotation. As it rises, it is forcing the gas through a transfer port into the displacer piston chamber. Once inside, the gas is cooled and begins to draw the displacer piston back to the top of its stroke. While this is happening, excess gas is being forced back into the power cylinder through the transfer port. Once the power cylinder has reached the top of its stroke, heat is applied and the cycle repeats.

The downside is that the engine will literally need to “warm up” before it will move anywhere. If more power is needed then there is no instant boost of power because the engine will need to develop more heat. To get around this problem the designer has added an additional battery as well as an electric motor. The motor sits in the back wheel and is responsible for driving the bike. The engines job is to keep power to the battery to keep the whole thing charged up. The engine is attached to a high output generator which supplies the energy needed.

The burner that is used to “charge” the battery relies on an air intake to cool down the gas to bring the piston back. Anything can be thrown in the burner to get the engine going (as long as it can burn) and as long as you have stuff to burn, you can move.

It’s a great idea. No demonstrations have been made in public just yet although it is rumoured that the creator uses the bike to move around his estate.