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I remember reading about the Wankel rotary engine when I was like, 9, in
some book I found at our Library in elementary school. I never understood
how the rotor could move within the lobed cavity, or engage with the
eccentric output shaft. I think I put it back on the shelf and started
playing with the new-at-the-time UNISYS Icon computers. They were pretty
stupid though. Something about a huge ball in the corner and an "Action"
button. I think I hated them.
Last night I was watching The Fast and the Furious (for about my 18th time?
Something like that) at a friends house. Two of the guys there started
talking about rotary engines. I immediatley joined the conversation! They
were trying to figure out how it worked. We got some paper, and some crayons
from my friend's kid. We started sketching stuff down (while Vin Diesel
managed to just miss being hit by a Union Pacific, surely angering thousands
of pro OPERATION-LIFESAVER types) and I thought we had it. It turns out we
didn't, but it was fun nevertheless.
Tonight I remembered to look up some information on the engine. I found this
fantasitc site:
http://www.monito.com/wankel/
Check out some of the Java animations that demonstrate how you generate the
Epitrochoid curve. I don't understand math but it looks cool. A variant on
this engine can rev up to something the order of 25k r/min.
Wankel's tombstone has a metal insert, an icon of the primary members of his
engine.
http://www.howstuffworks.com/rotary-engine.htm
Simply breathtaking. Gah. These are the things I like about Sunday evenings.
Iain
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Message has 1 Reply:
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| (...) I remember those!!! :-) They were the standard @ my school during the early nineties. My friends and I use to just hold down the action key for like ten-seconds and then walk away… The computers would start ‘beeping’ for about 10 mins… lol so (...) (23 years ago, 4-Mar-02, to lugnet.org.ca.rtltoronto)
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