THINK CITY - Kamen Stirling Engine Update

[GyroGo]

Stirling Engine as hybrid electric vehicle recharger:

http://blogs.business2.com/greenwomb...a-civic-f.html

[BillPaxton]

LOL - glad *everyone* doesn't think its a stupid idea... http://forums.segwaychat.com/showthr...light=sterling

[quade]

Originally Posted by BillPaxton

LOL - glad *everyone* doesn't think its a stupid idea...

I don't think it's a stupid idea, just not one that makes any sense whatsoever for something as small as a Segway.

Adding a Sterling engine requires a level of complexity that needs to be taken into consideration in the overall design and it also requires a certain amount of physical room in order to actually make it worthwhile. It is, after all, a mechanical device and the physics of getting energy out of it requires that it be of a certain size depending on the temperature differences you intend to use.

It will be interesting to see how it all eventually fits together in the THINK car.

[segsurfer]

gyro, interesting post choice. It's nice to see the stirling mentioned on the forums

[segsurfer]

Originally Posted by quade

I don't think it's a stupid idea, just not one that makes any sense whatsoever for something as small as a Segway.

Adding a Sterling engine requires a level of complexity that needs to be taken into consideration in the overall design and it also requires a certain amount of physical room in order to actually make it worthwhile. It is, after all, a mechanical device and the physics of getting energy out of it requires that it be of a certain size depending on the temperature differences you intend to use.

It will be interesting to see how it all eventually fits together in the THINK car.

While a stirling may be pointless for an i2, think of an x2. Imagine if you will, riding out to you fishing camp, unhooking the stirling from the seg, plugging it into the cabin and powering it up. I thought of this scenario while thinking about a friend who has a hunting and fishing camp, that in order to use electricity at, he must carry car batteries. For those of us that fish, think how awesome it would be to have an eco friendly power source for your cabin.

[quade]

Originally Posted by segsurfer

While a stirling may be pointless for an i2, think of an x2. Imagine if you will, riding out to you fishing camp, unhooking the stirling from the seg, plugging it into the cabin and powering it up. I thought of this scenario while thinking about a friend who has a hunting and fishing camp, that in order to use electricity at, he must carry car batteries. For those of us that fish, think how awesome it would be to have an eco friendly power source for your cabin.

But then, you're not really adding the Stirling to the x2, you're just carrying it along for the ride. You could do that right now and you'd still need a heat source to power it.

[SEGsby]

The car is kind of cute. Always wondered what happened to THINK! after Ford invested in them...

SEGsby

[segsurfer]

Originally Posted by quade

But then, you're not really adding the Stirling to the x2, you're just carrying it along for the ride. You could do that right now and you'd still need a heat source to power it.

I'm talking about a stirling powered x2, like a stirling battery hybrid segway. The stirling would help recharge the batteries, similar to the gm volt. You get to your cabin, unhook the stirling plug it up to the cabin, and take the x2 off exploring with a fully charged set of batteries.