We have a practical and very widely applicable solution to a problem that has constrained the design of motor driven devices of all kinds until now: a simple, inexpensive, robust, scalable mechanical means of fine speed/torque control. No machine that fully satisfies this description has ever been demonstrated, until now.
We have not discovered a new principle of engineering, we have used already known principles in a novel way. The design makes complete logical and mechanical sense, and is stunningly simple, with a total of ten moving parts. This contrasts with previous attempts to solve the same problem, all of which have been blindingly complex. There are no unusual parts with questionable effects, everything in it behaves exactly as standard mechanical engineering theory would predict.
In electric cars it replaces the Electronic Speed Control (ESC), which, after the batteries, is the largest, most expensive, delicate, inefficient and error prone component, while at the same time providing the benefits of torque multiplication. This would considerably reduce the size of the motor required to deliver any given top speed, range and acceleration.
In gasoline cars it will radically simplify the design of engines, which will only have to operate at two or three set speeds, with the Drive determining the road speed. This will increase gas mileage considerably, and also reduce the cost and complexity of building cars. Given the notorious resistance of the auto industry to novel ideas we do not consider gasoline cars to be a primary target, however.
For unattended situations such as industrial pumps and fans it will again enable a smaller motor to do the same job that a larger one now does, while also vastly improving the effect upon the electrical grid of starting and stopping them and boosting their efficiency.
This is a very brief and incomplete list of possible applications, but it gives some idea of why it would be enthusiastically adopted in today’s energy efficiency conscious world. No doubt it will encounter some resistance as all novel ideas do, but the advantages are too attractive to pass up, and as soon as one domino falls, the rest will be forced to follow or fail.
We built a prototype and it behaved exactly as predicted, and we have video evidence of this. Its shortcomings as a practical device able to do real work were the result of observable and identifiable issues with the implementation, as distinct from the basic concept.
On the upside most of the design work is done, though we will modify the design of some of the parts when we remake them to incorporate planned layout improvements. It took a total of 15 months to reach the point of having a working demonstration, starting completely from scratch. This included learning 3-d printing, buying and rebuilding a 3-d printer, learning how to design 3-d objects, calculating all the sizes of gears needed and how to arrange them, and actually building the device. We are therefore confident that we can build a better version within six months at the very outside, given adequate resources.