We've known about Dean Kamen's work on the Stirling engine for hybrid vehicle use since the inventor introduced the DEKA Revolt late last year. According to some recently-filed patent applications, though, it would seem that Kamen has lots more up his sleeve for the good 'ol Stirling engine, including a possible hybrid scooter.

According to Gizmag, Kamen is thought to be using a prototype scooter featuring the Stirling hybrid powertrain at his personal residence on an island a mile off the coast of Connecticut. From the patent drawings, we can see a that the Stirling engine is mounted at the rear of the bike while a rechargeable battery pack for the electric motor sits under the scooter's floor.

According to the report, Kamen has invested some $50 million into the development of the Stirling engine, though it's unclear whether there are any possible production plans for this particular hybrid scooter.

Gallery: Stirling-powered hybrid scooter patents

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[Source: Gizmag]

Dean Kamen may be best known as the man behind the iconic and oft-maligned Segway Personal Transporter, but his fertile mind is always full of interesting ideas. Lately, the inventor has turned his attention towards vehicles with four-wheels, batteries and on-board range extenders. We already know that Kamen's extended-range electric vehicle is based on the chassis of an older Ford Th!nk and that it carries around a Stirling engine that's capable of recharging the batteries, but there's more than just the need for alternative forms of transportation pushing this project forward.

Kamen reportedly hopes that selling sufficient quantities of his REVOLT serial hybrid will allow the Stirling engine's price to drop enough that it can help provide needed electricity to billions of people all around the planet. Possible sources of heat to keep the Stirling engine merrily turning a generator include any number of combustible fuels like gasoline, diesel, natural gas or even animal waste – a fuel we're not likely to run out of any time soon.

[Source: The Christian Science Monitor]

The Segway may be many things, but a sales success it is not. When the little machine was first announced, its inventor, Dean Kamen, proclaimed that it would relegate the car to horse and buggy status. Reality hasn't been quite so kind, and its future looks to be in question as Kamen is contemplating whether or not to finally call it quits. None of this is to say that the Segway is a poor product, as the truth is quite the opposite. We firmly believe that it's often unnecessary to jump in a two (or more) ton vehicle equipped with a honkin' gas engine to get where we need to go. So, what's the problem? Pricing, for one. There are few instances when a Segway is actually more practical than an electric bike, yet it costs significantly more. Plus, being launched with so much fanfare probably didn't do it any favors.

[Source: CNN]

Dean Kamen and his inventions are often mentioned on these here pages, probably most often for the creation he is arguably best known for, the Segway. More recently, the inventor has begun tackling vehicles with twice the number of wheels. Using a Stirling external combustion engine to help generate electricity that powers secondary systems and can recharge the battery, Kamen's DEKA Revolt is based on an old Ford Th!nk electric car and can reportedly travel about 60 miles on a single charge of its lithium ion battery. If you happened to live on your own island, as Kamen does, that distance would always be plenty. In fact, Kamen considers himself Lord Dumpling, head, as it were, of the three acre North Dumpling Island that he calls home. He's planning to run again for the head-position next year, and we're pretty sure he's a lock considering he's both the only candidate and the only voter.

That island was recently cut-off the grid by the powers-that-be, which miffed Kamen a bit, as you might imagine. The good thing is that the inventor took the opportunity to make the entire country of Dumpling energy independent. Kamen's past inventions are proving handy, with electric Segways the most-used method of transportation, a custom water filtration system to clean the water and a methane-powered Stirling engine just for added coolness. We don't want to know where the methane is from.

[Source: Yahoo News]

The other day, we touched on the Stirling engine that Segway-inventor Dean Kamen was working on for a hybrid car. Kamen has now displayed his prototype, based on an old Ford Th!nk, to the media. Called the 2008 DEKA Revolt, the prototype can apparently go about 60 miles on a full charge of the li-ion batteries. Not a huge deal, that. Instead, the news is that there is a Stirling engine involved. It seems, though, that this extra power source is more back-up than game-changer.

The Stirling engine "powers the features that would normally drain huge power from the battery, notably the defroster and heater," according to the Union Leader. The battery drives the car, but "if the battery does run low, the Stirling can recharge it." Per our readers' discussion on this topic the other day, it look's like Kamen hasn't limited what his Stirling engine can burn. The Union Leader says, "It can use any fuel, from biodiesel to natural gas." There's a lot more to learn about this little invention, so keep your eyes peeled. Thanks to everyone who sent this in.


[Source: Union Leader, FOX News]

The internal combustion engine, as we've known it for over a century, is what's known as an open cycle device. That is, the so-called working fluid flows into and out of the engine and is constantly circulated. A closed cycle engine keeps the same working fluid contained within the device and heat is generated externally rather than from combustion inside the cylinder. The best known example of the latter is the stirling cycle engine. The advantage of the stirling cycle is that the heat source can be anything since the combustion (or non-combustion) occurs outside of the mechanism. The theoretical thermodynamic efficiency of the stirling cycle is 100 percent although creating a 100 percent efficient mechanism has proved elusive. Nonetheless, the flexibility of the stirling engine has made it a popular choice among those researching alternative powertrains.

When it comes to alternative anything, few people rank with Dean Kamen. Kamen is best known to most people as the creator of the oft-derided, but certainly innovative Segway scooter. For some time now, Kamen and his staff have been working on a extended range electric vehicle. As with most other EVs of late, energy storage comes in the form of the usual array of lithium ion batteries. The stirling engine will be used to recharge the battery pack making the car useful for more than just urban commuting. If anyone can make the stirling engine work in a car, Kamen might be the one. We'll have to wait and see.

[Source: The Telegraph]

This is one of those stories that are just tangentially related to more environmentally friendly transportation. Dean Kamen is, of course, the creator of the Segway transporter. The Segway hasn't exactly taken the world by storm the way Kamen might have envisioned, which is probably due at least in part to the cost. But it does seem to have found a few niches where it is useful and the numbers of Segways in regular use (sometimes in funny ways) do seem to be increasing. Kamen's latest brainstorm is something called the Slingshot. If Kamen is to be believed this dung-powered device is capable of producing potable water from almost any liquid that contains H₂O via vapor condensation so that no filters are needed. The purifier can produce about 1,000L of clean water per day. This could potentially be a huge boon to many parts of the world that have severe shortages of healthy water. The device also apparently produces enough electricity to power 70 light bulbs. Kamen believes the device would cost $1,000-2,000 in mass production. If this technology could be scaled up I wonder if it could be used to with some of the industrial farms in this country that are storing huge lagoons of animal waste. If the dung could be used to power the system and purify the waste while producing electricity it could address some of the environmental problems posed by these facilities. Of course it does nothing to address the treatment of the animals, but that's another story. A video of Kamen discussing his latest invention with Stephen Colbert is after the jump.