Speeder bike for Real?

　　I don't know about you, but I went nuts over the speeder bike when I saw "Return of the Jedi" I wished there are such speedy cool hovering bikes for me to ride. I guess I was not the only one, a mechanical designer in Australia, Chris Malloy has been working on a hover bike quite some time after he gets off of work. His hover bike, which will be tested in a few month, houses a 1170 cc 4-stroke engine delivering 80 kW driving two ducted propellers and possess the ability to reach an estimated height of more than 10,000 feet and reach an indicated airspeed of 150 knots (278 km/h or 173 mph).
It is still in the process of development, and Malloy loves to hear from other engineers with experience in computational fluid dynamics willing to volunteer their expertise to help model changes in the design and cut down on the amount of empirical testing. Anyone interested can contact Malloy via the Hoverbike website.


Via: Gizmag

Pedal Skates

From The Atlantic:

"This variation on the classic roller skate was patented by Charles A. Nordling of Suisun, California in August 1913. The primary object of Nordling's contraption was "the provision of a roller skate in which the wheels thereof will be rotated on pedal action by the feet of the user, thereby avoiding the necessity of excessive exertion on the part of the skater." Since the skates required significantly less force, the skater would be less likely to drag his feet or lift the skate from the ground, thus enabling, as Nordling writes in his application, "the production of high speed."

Swiss "JetMan" Rossy

Swiss "Jetman" Yves Rossy completed an eight-minute flight along the Grand Canyon on Saturday, one day later than planned and away from the media spotlight.

Details about the flight were announced by Rossy's publicity handlers on Tuesday, after swissinfo.ch reported the successful completion of the stunt by the Swiss daredevil, based on confirmation from two people close to the event.

Read the full story: http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/science_technology/Jetman_buzzes_Grand_Canyon_aft...

UNO III

We have posted a footage of early prototypes of the UNO, but now it has become a reality and claimed to be the "world's first real transformer". The electrically driven Uno III has three wheels, can be ridden like a Segway, using two of its wheels with a balancing gyroscope. Yep, it transforms into a full-sized motorcycle at the push of a button, though the technology comes at a hefty price, $5000 - $7500 to be specific. Now BPG Motors is accepting refundable deposits of $250 for Uno orders.

Via: Techblog

I have no idea about its performance. People are more inclined to talk about the transforming part.

No Valves, No Heads

This new concept, developed by a Polish engineer, Andrew Feliks eliminates the most complicated mechanism in the combustion engine: the head and valve train.
The idea is to replace the camshaft with a crankshaft and replace the valves with pistons. Making it new yet very simple four stroke engine.

In this invention, the piston with compressions rings slides in a cylinder which has a side port. A pair of these pistons and cylinders replaces the intake and exhaust valve.

As the principal crankshaft rotates twice, the timing piston assembly crankshaft turns only once - similar to a camshaft in traditional teaming gear. The set of "pistons valves" doesn't have the disadvantages of traditional valves such as clearance tolerance. The lubrication system is not a problem - it is a normal engine turned "upside-down".

So what is so good about this? Needless to say, eliminate the need of valve adjustment, supposedly have more efficient and less-pollution.

I am no engineer, but anything that makes less-pollution and more power is always welcome on my world.

For more info,

visit: New 4stroke

Also mechanically inclined folks at Go Fast News talked about this in details.

A Look At The Future of Technology From 30 Years Ago

Have we created a monster that controls us more than we control it?