Source:C/Net News.Com

John Robertson has spent more than a decade perfecting an engine his boosters claim could mark the death of the piston. He will know soon whether it was time well spent.

Robertson's Reg Technologies is building a lightweight, clean-burning new engine technology capable of running on fuels ranging from diesel to hydrogen.

The engine is an offshoot of the rotary design, which replaces the reciprocating motion of the piston with a single rotor that moves around an oval chamber. The design is significantly smaller and more lightweight than a typical piston engine, giving it more push per pound. And because it has fewer moving parts (13, compared with 40 on a piston) and operates in a smooth motion, advocates claim it causes less strain and vibration and is therefore easier to maintain and repair.



Reg Tech's current design, dubbed RadMax, is the result of $11 million worth of research. The company plans to begin tests on its prototype 125 horsepower engine before year's end and hopes to have it ready for commercial use soon after.

Robertson is targeting military applications such as unmanned aerial vehicles first, confident that his lightweight design will allow craft to carry more fuel and stay aloft longer. The plan is to license the engine to truckmakers and then later perhaps to automakers.

"Change will not happen overnight," Robertson admits.

German engineer Felix Wankel introduced the engine concept in the mid-1950s, but despite drawing rave reviews for its power and simplicity, several drawbacks have relegated it to the fringes. Among automakers, Japan's Mazda has been the engine's principal champion, but today in the U.S., only the manufacturer's RX-8 sports car operates using the design. That car highlights the rotary's weaknesses: Mazda recommends owners check the oil frequently due to the engine's tendency to burn it.



Robertson asserts that his company's design makes major improvements that should solve many problems. If it works as promised, the RadMax would run on nearly any fuel, burn with little to no emissions and provide a new lighter-weight engine alternative for recharging battery cells on hybrid cars. Soon it may have its day in the sun.