The history of Cam engines   
    The concept of moving pistons with a cam rather than a crank has a long history. The first aircraft engine of any type to be certified for flight by the United States Navy was a radial cam engine, the Caminez engine developed by the Fairchild Group of Companies.  Yes, the same innovative guy who founded Fairchild Semiconductor, which developed the first computer chip in the late 1950s and spawned California's Silicon Valley.  This forward-thinking entrepreneur thought the concept had merit.  But in 1927, it was not possible to machine close-tolerance cams, and this prevented the refinement of the concept.  Today, Computer Numerical Control or CNC machining has solved that problem.  The proof is found in our highly efficient Rad Cam engine.  

Balancing the combustion/piston dynamic
     In 1982 Professor Antoni Oppenheim, of the University of California coauthored an SAE paper with J. Douglas Dale University of Alberta entitled "A Rationale for Advances in the Technology of IC Engines, (SAE #820047)  The underlying message of the paper was that the dynamics of combustion and a crank-driven piston are out of sync. The paper was a call to engine makers to develop an engine with combustion chambers with a volumetric expansion dynamic that was more in sync with the combustion event.   Professor Oppenheim also published the books  "The Dynamics of Combustion" and "Combustion in Piston Engines".  He suggested that the most suitable engine for realizing an ideal IC engine is a direct-injected two-stroke engine.  The end goal was to design and build an engine that would control combustion so that far more of its thermal energy was transformed into work.

Who Will Take Up The Challenge?
   In the early 1990s, Professor Oppenheim explained the challenge to his friend, Donald James (Jim) Duncalf, who owned an engineering firm in Fremont, California. Duncalf has long been an advocate of conserving energy, and in the 1970s, he designed and built several energy-saving passive and active solar buildings.  The first was built in 1972 and sponsored by the Johns Manville Company.  He later spent four years on the speaker's bureau of what became the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and has a long background in energy conservation.   Duncalf agreed to the challenge, but only under Professor Oppenheim's direction.  

He later enlisted one of his long time heros the knowledgable engine expert Smokey Yunick,   It has not been easy, but with the help and technical input of many people,  The Rad Cam engine was first developed into an Aircraft engine in 2005, and now design work has been finished on Kamtech's "On Board Energy" source for EVs.  
  
 


Kamtech's OBE, or On Board Energy unit, is a small, self-contained electric power plant. It can be tuned to meet US and European emissions regulations. Unlike the energy source for virtually all EVs. namely, the "deadliest energy in the world," the world's electric grid, it does not emit toxic or poisonous gases, only CO2 and water, which are the foundation molecules for all life on earth. CO2 is an organic molecule. 

The OBE operates only when needed and runs at its most efficient speed and load.  It only generates electric power to charge the EV's batteries or, if needed, drive accessories and the electric drive train.  Being "on board" rather than far away the system does not suffer up to 20% distribution, transformer or charging losses as is the case with all EVs that are plugged into the world's electric grid. The Kamtech OBE replaces up to 80% of the EV's batteries.  This allows your EVs to be far more efficient, to stop faster, and to handle better.  The Rad Cam was developed to give clean, highly efficient power, and the perfect balance of its Rad Cam power plant makes it run as smoothly as your EV's electric motors.  The Rad Cam's first licensee was a small aircraft company.  Aircraft engines normally operate at around 80% power capacity, and aircraft engines must be robust and efficient.  

The Kamtech OBE unit can be sized to the application  

  • Weight: 40 to 50kg (without fluids) 
  • Compact Design (50 cm diameter x 50 cm tall) 
  • If service is needed, it can be quickly unplugged and removed, and replaced in as little as 20 minutes.  
  • Its low cost allows for leasing to remove the car buyer's fear of reliability.

The Kamtech OBE also has sufficient power to operate an air-conditioning compressor via an output shaft with minimal impact on range. 

The true efficiency that sets Kamtech OBE apart was developed under the mentorship of the team's three consultants, Professor Antoni K. Oppenheim, Smokey Yunick, and Professor Huynh Thanh Cong, and the details were worked out through long brainstorming sessions between Jim Duncalf and Phạm Duy Tùng here in Vietnam.



Example Text

Professor Antoni K Oppenheim

Luminary Of Rad Cam

Antoni was like the father of this project. He was determined not to let us fail in this challenge he gave us. When things looked insurmountable Toni would open up one of his large file cabinets and in a few minutes would find an answer. Then with the patience of a teacher, he would break down solutions or new concepts into understandable words. He never once said he did not have time to examine our progress. He was determined not to let us fail in this challenge he gave us. He always showed great enthusiasm for developing answers on how to improve the efficiency and performance of the Rad Cam engine concept. He was never short of new and innovative ideas. With quiet modesty, he was happy when we proved his concepts were viable. He is sadly missed.

Smokey Yunick

Mechanical Consultant

Smokey Yunick, was one of the most creative and knowledgeable engine designers perhaps in the world. He did consulting for various automakers during his years, most notably Hudson, Ford, and General Motors. Duncalf contacted him in 1991 shortly after taking on Professor Oppenheim's challenge to develop a truly "ideal engine." A few days after Duncalf explained Oppenheim's thoughts on better piston dynamics Smokey called with a recommended a constant acceleration cam profile. He explained that such a dynamic would put the least initial force on the engine and produce the longest dwell time at both ends of the stroke. His insights into lubrication were also helpful. He too never put a time limit on his contributions. Duncalf went into this project partly because he had long been a fan of Smokey's articles in Popular Science magazine.

Jim Duncalf

CTO and Patent holder

Jim is the guy who took on the challenge to lead the efforts to fulfill Professor Oppenheim's vision of an "Ideal Engine". His zeal for this project was inherited from father. In 1923 Jim's father electrified his parent's farm. The power came from a converted windmill connected to a bank of discarded railroad signal batteries. It was very popular in the area. Then in 1935, the police destroyed the system. A legal monopoly was given to the wealthy owner of a local power company. In many countries, large electric power companies are now seeking a similar legal monopoly to provide electric power to all the world's cars. In the last couple of decades some of the richest people in the world art trying to get a legal monopoly to sell electricity to the world's cars. But today a rising backlash is about to happen. Please resist!

Mark Beierle

Engine designer/builder

Mark Beierly, the head of design and major stockholder of Earthstar Aircraft Company, was our first licensee. Mark and his team built several generations of prototypes, the last one being a production version. Every one of the prototype engines gave clear proof that Professor Oppenheim's writing in several papers and books regarding combustion dynamics were valid. When Duncalf, Yunick, and Beierle turned Oppenheim's concepts into a working design the engine's thermal efficiency was very close to 50%. Beierle efforts, skill, and experience in engine design and his dedication to the building and testing of the engine were key in making the Rad Cam a practical and efficient power plant that will revolutionize the EV sector.

  • 21:04 Block E27 Belleza, Đ. Số 2, Phú Mỹ, Quận 7, Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh 700000
R&D is not for the faint of heart.

R&D is not for the faint of heart.

Every new technology goes through three phases: concept, development, and commercialization. In the case of automotive engines, its concept and patent happened in 1861 by Alphonse Beau de Rochas, its commercialization happened 27 years later with the sale of the first “Benz Patent-Motorwagen" in 1888. The Rad Cam engine was first conceived in the fall of 1991 by Donald James Duncalf with the encouragement of Professor Antoni K Oppenheim. In 2004, Earthstart’s production version demonstrated the efficiency advantage of the radial cam concept, but it is still awaiting its introduction into automotive use, as that required the removal of the need for oil in the fuel and fulfilling Professor Oppenheim's last request, developing it into an HCCI engine. Development is a long process, as there are hundreds of little issues that must be addressed and solved. Whenever there was an issue with combustion that seemed insurmountable, Professor Oppenheim helped find a solution. If the problem was mechanical, Jim would have turned to Smokey Yunick, both men, while being like the yin and yang of this project, were brilliant and innovative, and always gave good direction and encouragement to keep looking for that “way that worked”.

The Future Belongs to the Innovators

The Future Belongs to the Innovators

The first manufacturer that partners with us will be granted a paid-up licensee to use technology in any product they manufacture. As the technology becomes mainstream there will be lots of opportunities to share in the sublicensing of the technology to other sectors and manufacturing firms. Keep in mind that there will be lots of work to do to get this design into a production-ready unit. We are looking for an established firm that has both the goal and ability to make their community and the world a cleaner, greener, and less polluted place. There is not only the opportunity to license the Kamtech RE itself but also the opportunity to become an OEM supplier of units, parts, technical know-how, training, and several other profit centers that normally arise with any new technology. This is a radical new technology so international advancement will be of great benefit to a partner. We welcome your inquire.

Looking for Strong Backing!

Looking for Strong Backing!

Kamtech's founders learned some hard lessons in the past about the power of government and the even stronger power of a free market, which seems to finally winning against the strict market interference in the automotive sector. These lessons have made it clear that Kamtech's team needs to find a partner that is strong financially, and strong-willed to deal with the enormous political power of the "Climate Industrial Complex". The potential partner must be eager and willing to advance their market share. Many Builders of EVs fit that bill. Kamtech's technology will make any partner's EVs the most user-friendly vehicle in the marketplace. If you would like success in the BEV market place we can bring you that. If you think your company qualifies please give us a call at 84-79-478-1600. Thanks, to the Kamtech design team, Phạm Duy Tùng and Jim Duncalf...