Professional Documents
Culture Documents
____________
®
DISCLOSURE: ROTAPOWER Engines have been in development by Moller International and
Freedom Motors for several years. They have been demonstrated to run successfully in a variety
of different types of applications – everything from a series hybrid automobile to gen-set, from an
ATV to a powerboat.
SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT: This booklet may contain forward-looking statements. The
words “estimate” and “seeking” and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements,
which speak only as to the date the statement was made. Freedom Motors, Moller International,
and The Pollution Solutionssm Group undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any
forward-looking statements, whether because of new information, future events, or otherwise.
Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, some of which
cannot be predicted or quantified. Future events and actual results could differ materially from
those set forth in, contemplated by, or underlying the forward-looking statements. The risks and
uncertainties to which forward-looking statements are subject include, but are not limited to, the
effect of government regulation, competition, and other material risks.
® ®
ROTAPOWER and Skycar are trademarks of Moller International in the USA and other
countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
____________
• Dependence on petroleum
• Pollution from emissions
• Piston engines that are heavy and increasingly complex
• Existing and future EPA fuel and emissions standards
THE GOAL
THE SOLUTION
• lighter weight and smaller size than piston engines of comparable horsepower
Table of Contents 5
Abstract 7
FAQs 34
Conclusion 36
APPENDIX A: History of ROTAPOWER® Rotary Engines 37
APPENDIX B: Freedom Motors 38
APPENDIX C: Paul Moller, Ph.D. 39
APPENDIX D: The Pollution Solutionssm Group 40
With up to 40% less fuel consumption, over 95% fewer untreated emissions,
and with far less size and weight of piston engines, COMPOUND
ROTAPOWER® Engines have the potential to revolutionize the automotive
industry in the early 21st Century. They are the ideal engine for PHEVs (Plug-In
Hybrid Electric Vehicles) of both the Parallel and Series concept, as well as a
wide array of industrial, agricultural, and marine applications that demand low
emissions and high fuel efficiency.
1
Qualifies as a Flex-Fuel Vehicle (FFV), or “mixed-fuel vehicle” as defined in the Energy Policy Act of
2005 by the U.S. Congress.
Here, too, was a powerful new engine with all the emissions benefits of the 4-stroke
combustion process but with only a small fraction of the moving parts of a 4-stroke
piston engine. Thus this new engine could greatly reduce their costs of manufacturing and
maintenance.
So, in the 1960s and 1970s, virtually every major automobile manufacturer embarked on
the race to try to adapt rotary engines to its own automobiles. Of these, only Mazda
prevailed, creating an engine that is legendary in automobile racing circles even today.2
2
In fact Mazda’s rotary engine has a mystique of its own in the world of automobile racing – and was so
successful in racing that it was banned from competing against piston engines! John Z. DeLorean’s original
plans for the iconic DMC-12 included a Citroen Wankel rotary engine, dubbed Comotar (developed by
NSU and Citroën) Of course, that never happened and the DeLorean ended up with an underpowered 130
bhp V6 engine jointly developed by Renault, Peugeot and Volvo. However, some lads decided to hook on
DeLorean’s original vision and replace the ill-fated French V6 with a 300Hp strong, 2.0-liter 3-rotor rotary
engine from the 1990 Mazda Eunos Cosmo. <http://carscoop.blogspot.com/2007/05/delorean-with-300hp-
mazda-rotary-engine.html>
Why is this?
First, Wankel’s rotary engines were somewhat less fuel-efficient than the best piston
engines of the time. The Oil Crisis of 1973 made it clear for the first time that fuel
efficiency would be a concern for manufacturers and consumers henceforth.
Second, early Mazda rotary engines had problems with their composite oil seals that were
designed to prevent oil from migrating from the oil-cooled rotor into the combustion
chamber, and this perception has been hard to erase even though Mazda redesigned
its seals years ago.
Third, GM’s Wankel engines did not comply with then-current emissions levels, and, in
the 1970s, low emissions were just beginning to be recognized as a goal.
GM cancelled further development of its rotary engines in 1974.
As a result, manufacturers and inventors returned to the task of trying to overcome the
inherent inefficiencies of the piston engine’s fundamental design. The resulting
accretion of more and more add-ons has band-aided the fuel efficiency and emissions
problems of piston engines, but have also rendered today’s gasoline piston engines
overly complex and overly expensive to manufacture and maintain.
For the past three decades, the tremendous potential of rotary engines has remained
untapped.
Some of the benefits of ROTAPOWER® Engines that make them attractive for Hybrid
Electric Vehicles (HEVs) are excerpted here from a 2006 presentation by Dr. Andrew
Burke, recognized expert in series hybrid technology from the independent Institute of
Transportation Studies at the University of California, Davis3 –
3
Andrew F. Burke, Ph.D., “Hybrid Vehicles with Batteries and Ultracapacitors in China,” Powerpoint
Presentation, 2006.
ITS-UCD
Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California, Davis
Freedom Motors is now taking this technology to its next level by compounding its
BASIC ROTAPOWER® Engine to create the COMPOUND ROTAPOWER® Engine.
In fact, Freedom Motors’ COMPOUND ROTAPOWER® Engine is the ideal engine
component in the emergent transportation technology known as Plug-In Hybrid Electric
Vehicles – PHEVs.
PHEVs have been targeted by the United State Department of Energy (D.O.E.) as the
important next goal in the development of fuel-efficient passenger automobiles and light
trucks, because PHEVs will:
“provide Americans with greater freedom of mobility and
energy security, while lowering costs and reducing
impacts on the environment.”4
Battery chemistry is advancing rapidly and will soon make PHEVs practical in mass
production. These advanced batteries coupled with Freedom Motors’ COMPOUND
ROTAPOWER® Engines answer today’s most urgent energy needs – lower emissions
and higher fuel economy.
4
“Mission, Vision, & Goals” of the U.S. Department of Energy “FreedomCAR & Vehicle Technologies
Program. <http://www1.eere.energy.gov/vehiclesandfuels/about/fcvt_mission.html>
Specifically ––
In fact, ROTAPOWER® Engines are the only internal combustion engines with
untreated emissions lower than California's ULEV (Ultra-Low Emissions
Vehicle) standards for all three - CO, HC, and NOx!
*gm/hp-hr
References: Data for Gasoline, LPG and CNG from EPA Report No. NR-010b; Diesel Data from EPA
Report No. NR-009. ROTAPOWER® ULEV data in conjunction with Dr. Andrew Burke, the independent
Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California, Davis.
5
Four-stroke gasoline piston data provided by EPA report #NR-010b. BASIC ROTAPOWER® data
confirmed by the Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California, Davis.
4. Because of their compactness and light weight – up to 70% lighter than piston
engines of comparable power – all ROTAPOWER® Engines use far less fuel to
propel the weight of the engine itself, a significant savings of fuel and a resulting
reduction of CO2.
6
According to Outboard Marine Corporation (OMC), which began mass producing an air-cooled
snowmobile rotary engine in the early 1970's, the cost of producing rotary engines in quantity is about 40%
less than 4-cylinder piston engines. Between 1983 and 1989, Moller International, parent company of
Freedom Motors, acquired the entire rotary engine assets of OMC.
7
Paul Moller, “The Operation and Performance of the Charge Cooled ROTAPOWER® Rotary Engine vs.
Oil Cooled Rotor Rotary Engines”, Freedom Motors paper #9912, 1999.
FIGURE C: This
530cc BASIC
ROTAPOWER® Engine,
weighs only 60 pounds
and generates
50 horsepower (37kW).
8
Edward Willis & John McFadden, “NASA’s Rotary Engine Technology Enablement Program-1983
through 1991”, 1992. This NASA study evaluated the potential of the rotary engine to achieve lower
specific fuel consumption. They successfully demonstrated that, with turbo-charging, the rotary engine was
able to achieve a specific fuel consumption of .375 LB/HP HR or a thermal efficiency of 37%. This is equal
or better than the best turbo-charged piston engine using gasoline. Because the energy in an engine’s
exhaust exceeds that necessary to drive a turbo-charger, considerable energy is normally lost. NASA goes
on to show that extracting a larger portion of this energy would lead to a thermal efficiency between 43.5%
and 46.5 % compared to the standard gasoline engine at 32%, or similar to the turbo-charged diesel engine
(the gold standard as the most energy efficient internal combustion engine).
EMISSIONS
(no catalyst)
CO High Moderate LOW LOW LOW
HC High Moderate Moderate LOW LOW
NOx Moderate Moderate High LOW LOW
FREE OF PARTICULATES YES YES No YES YES
LIGHTER WEIGHT YES No No YES YES
SIMPLE DESIGN YES No No YES YES
EASIER MAINTENANCE YES No No YES YES
FREE OF VIBRATION No No No YES YES
COST LOW Moderate High LOW LOW
POWER/WEIGHT HIGH Moderate Low HIGH HIGH
FUEL EFFICIENCY Poor Moderate GOOD Moderate GOOD
EASE OF STARTING GOOD GOOD Moderate GOOD GOOD
FLEX-FUEL ABLE Low MODERATE Low** MODERATE HIGH***
RPM CAPABILITY HIGH Moderate Low HIGH HIGH
CRITICAL MOVING PARTS 3 14 15 2 3
* gasoline
** diesel or biodiesel only
*** COMPOUND ROTAPOWER® Engines can also run on diesel and biodiesel
ITS-UCD
Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California, Davis
9
Burke, op. cit.
TABLE 4
Applications and Horsepower
®
Range of the
BASIC ROTAPOWER Engine
Maximum Commercial
Horsepower Displacement Configuration Applications
2.5 hp 27cc* single Lawnmowers, leaf
blowers, hand-held
4 hp 40cc single power tools, trimmers
7.5 hp 75cc single Tuk-tuks, portable
generators. Recreational
15 hp 150cc* single uses like motor scooters,
powered surf boards, etc.
20 hp 200cc single
30 hp 300cc 2-rotors Motorcycles, all terrain
vehicles, recreational
45 hp 450cc* single aircraft, jet skis, and
90 hp 900cc* 2-rotors small jet boats. Any high
performance use where
135 hp 1350cc* 3-rotors light weight and small
size is important.
180 hp 1800cc* 4-rotors
270 hp 2700cc* 6-rotors
65 hp 650cc* single
130 hp 1300cc* 2-rotors
*Sizes already being developed by Freedom Motors
Color represents models generated from same basic configuration to minimize tooling
changes.
Commercial Engine
(27cc)
Aircraft Engine (1060cc)
Industrial Engine (650cc)
TABLE 5:
2004 Worldwide Non-Automotive Engine Production11
1-20 HP 20-300 HP TOTAL
10
Power Systems Research, op.cit.
11
Market analysis by Power Systems Research, Brussels, Belgium, August 2005.
EPA Report No. NR-010b. states that 2-stroke piston engines produce 34 times higher
emissions of CO, and an astounding 725 times higher emissions of hydrocarbons,
than California’s ULEV standards.
Consequently, various U.S. and international entities have been legislating the
replacement of the ubiquitous 2-stroke piston engines with 4-stroke piston engines to
reduce emissions. However, 4-stroke pistons engines have over 10 times the moving
parts of 2-strokes and are therefore more expensive to build, to own, and to maintain than
2-stroke engines or BASIC ROTAPOWER® Engines. A 4-stroke piston engine is also
heavier and larger, and would likely require the re-design of many existing applications.
Within the United States, highly polluting 2-stroke piston engines are still in wide use in
lawnmowers, chainsaws, trimmers, as well as in some outboard motors, snowmobiles, jet
skis, scooters, karts, mopeds, and some motor scooters and small motorcycles, spewing
pollution wherever they operate.
Because fuel leaks through the exhaust port each time a new charge of air/fuel is loaded
into the combustion chamber of a 2-stroke piston engine, fuel and oil pollution is a
problem at many National Parks and outdoor recreation areas that allow four-wheelers,
snowmobiles, dirt bikes, and small watercraft.13 According to the Sierra Club, “The
small, inefficient two-stroke engines of some of these machines spew out as much as 30
percent of their fuel unburned – polluting the soils, air, and water of our National Forests,
National Parks, and other public lands. For example, one jet-ski driven for one 8 hour
period emits the same amount of pollution as a car driven for 100,000 miles.”14
There is also a continuous worldwide need for low-cost and low emission engines for
numerous other applications, such as pumps and generators. The Figures on the
following page compare the size, weight, and volume of a 10kW “ROTAPAC” with a
13.5kW commercial generator.
12
“Nonpoint Source Pollution (Polluted Runoff)”, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency website
< http://www.epa.gov/region02/water/npspage.htm>.
13
<http://science.howstuffworks.com/two-stroke6.htm>
14
“Shattered Solitude: Off-Road Vehicles on our Public Lands,” Sierra Club website
< http://www.sierraclub.org/wildlands/orv/factsheet.asp>
In front of him: a
Gillette “portable”
generator
that produces 13.5kW
and weighs 350lbs
(158.8kg).
In BASIC ROTAPOWER® Engines, two or more rotors on the same axis can be used to
produce more power, smoother instantaneous torque (vibration), and reduce exhaust
noise. When BASIC ROTAPOWER® Engines employ more than one rotor they are
referred to as “parallel-rotor” engines because the rotors are working in parallel – that is,
each rotor is producing its own complete 4-cycle combustion process.
15
Andrew F. Burke, Ph.D., “Performance and fuel economy characteristics of hybrid-electric vehicles
appropriate for China”, Davis, California, 2007.
COMPOUND ROTAPOWER® Engines will generate the same power and low torsional
vibration of two rotors on the same shaft, but with each rotor performing complementary
consecutive functions – that is, the two rotors work in series rather than in parallel.
Freedom Motors’ method of “compounding” sets it apart from any other. Specifically, in
Freedom Motors’ COMPOUND ROTAPOWER® Engines the first rotor supercharges
the air and fuel before sending it to the second/combustion rotor. In the second rotor, the
charge is further compressed prior to combustion. The combusted gases, expanding in
the second rotor, provide output power before exiting under significant pressure into the
first rotor, where additional expansion extracts additional energy. The exhaust then exits
the first rotor with little pressure or noise.16
This increase in thermal efficiency means that less fuel is needed for the same power; and
reduced fuel translates directly to less carbon dioxide (CO2) being released into the
atmosphere. During the natural combustion process of fossil fuels, each carbon atom
combines with two oxygen atoms in the air to create one CO2 molecule. Because carbon
has an atomic weight of 12 and each oxygen atom has an atomic weight of 16, the
combined weight of the CO2 molecule is 44 (12+16+16). Thus the weight of the CO2
molecule is 44/12 times the weight of the carbon atom alone. Since gasoline is about
87% carbon, burning one gallon of gasoline (that weighs about 6.3 lbs) produces over
20 lbs of CO2!! (6.3 lbs x 87% x 44/12 = 20.1 lbs).
16
Rolls Royce had experimented with a compound rotary engine in 1972 that weighed about 950 pounds
in which the compressor rotor sat atop the combustion rotor, and the two were linked by gears.
COMPOUND ROTAPOWER® Engines use a similar principal but greatly reduce the complexity of the RR design
by finding a patent-pending way to link the drive shafts of both rotors together on the same axis.
17
Willis & McFadden, op.cit.
TABLE 7
Applications and Horsepower Range of the
COMPOUND ROTAPOWER® Engine
Maximum
Potential Applications
Horsepower Displacement Configuration
7 hp 27cc* 2-rotors Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
(UAV) (long range),
10 hp 40cc 2-rotors portable gen-sets for
military field applications,
20 hp 75cc 2-rotors Series Hybrid automobiles
(PHEV) and other fuel
40 hp 150cc* 2-rotors efficient transportation
55 hp 200cc 2-rotors options.
18
Reuters, New York, Sept. 10, 2007
FIGURE K:
Proposed Engines for Parallel Drive Hybrid Vehicles
VW Hybrid Engine
-Displacement = 1 Liter
-Turbo-charged
-Weight ~ 260 lbs.
-Volume ~ 8 ft3
-Power ~ 112 hp / 83 kW
ROTAPOWER® Engine
-Displacement = 0.9 Liter
(equivalent)
-Compounded
-Weight ~ 122 lbs.
-Volume ~ 2 ft3
-Power ~ 125 hp / 93 kW
As worldwide demand for automobiles continues to increase, so does the urgency to fill
as much of this demand as possible with low-emissions vehicles of all kinds. Imagine the
astounding worldwide reduction in polluting emissions even if only 10% of these 61
million new automobiles each year were PHEVs powered by electricity from the grid,
supplemented by ultra-low-emissions COMPOUND ROTAPOWER® engines!
19
As compared to a “A mild hybrid design uses the electric motor to contribute to propulsion, as well as
running the electronic systems, supporting stop-start, and other fuel-saving measures, but not as a sole
source of motive power.” Green Car Congress “A Short Field Guide to Hybrids”, August 5, 2004.
< http://www.greencarcongress.com/2004/08/a_short_field_g.html>
20
Market analysis by Power Systems Research, Brussels, Belgium, August 2005.
Based on current technology, Freedom Motors calculates that the ideal configuration for
a “standard-sized” Series PHEV automobile is a 150cc COMPOUND ROTAPOWER®
Engine running a generator that produces over 25kW of power. This same combination
can also be used as a stand-alone generator known as a “ROTAPAC.”
FIGURE M: Compare
the Dimensions, Volume,
and Weight of the
“ROTAPAC” with
another generator
design of equal power
output.
(Which would you rather
have to move?)
21
“Toyota Motor Corp., which used the green image of its gasoline-electric Toyota Prius to propel a U.S.
sales surge, has decided to delay by one to two years the launches on new high-mileage hybrids with
lithium-ion battery technology because of potential safety problems.” Norihiko Shirouze, “Toyota Delays
Next Hybrids on Safety Concerns,” The Wall Street Journal Online, August 9, 2007.
The United States D.O.E. emphasizes that PHEVs are a near-term top priority for
transportation in the U.S. Obviously, research aimed at developing new energy storage
systems must be given immediate attention in order to make PHEVs (and electric cars)
practicable.
VALENCE
+ = $uccess!
TECHNOLOGY
22
John Heywood & Anup Bandivadekar, Chart: ”Time Scales for Significant U.S. Fleet Impact” in
Powerpower Presentation “Assessment of Future ICE and Fuel-Cell powered Vehicles and Their Potential
Impacts. DEER Conference, San Diego, CA, 2004. Available on the D.O.E. Website:
<http://www1.eere.energy.gov/vehiclesandfuels/pdfs/deer_2004/plenary/2004_deer_heywood.pdf>
23
which will generate high radial and torsional vibration levels – not a good thing!
No. Rotary engines are still internal combustion engines and operate on the same
basic principal as piston engines. Yet rotary engines are far simpler to produce
and to maintain. Most maintenance on rotary engines can be accomplished with
standard mechanic’s tools, and the few special tools needed are already available
for Mazda maintenance.
• Extend seal life from 2,000 hours to over 10,000 hours; and
And according to Andrew F. Burke, of the Research Faculty at the independent Institute
of Transportation Studies at the University of California at Davis:
24
Andrew F. Burke, Ph.D., Powerpoint Presentation,”Hybrid Vehicles with Batteries and Ultracapacitors
in China.”
Fuel cells are a very promising technology that is essentially in the “early
research” stage. Most sources believe that cost-effective fuel cell technology is at
least 10 years in the future. PHEVs will be needed and likely fully developed
much sooner. Since ROTAPOWER® Engines can run on hydrogen, they will be
able to make the transition to hydrogen fuel at any time.
Further tests are now needed to bring BASIC ROTAPOWER® Engines into
the volume production phase, and further development is needed to bring
COMPOUND ROTAPOWER® Engines into the beta test phase.
ROTAPOWER® Engines
“The Little Engines
That CAN…!”
The Little Engines That CAN 10/1/07 8:34 AM Page 36 of 40.
© 2007 The Pollution Solutionssm Group LLC
APPENDIX A
Historically, approximately 1,500 patents have been issued, and $3 billion U.S. spent, in
the development of the rotary engine originally imagined by Dr. Felix Wankel. Freedom
Motors' ROTAPOWER® Engines are a highly evolved version of that original rotary
engine, and Freedom Motors’ patents protect its own remarkable technological advances.
Dr. Wankel's engine garnered great enthusiasm for its attributes when it was first
demonstrated in the 1950s. In the 1960's, over 30 companies began developing rotary
engines for their products, which included outboard motors, motorcycles, chain saws,
airplanes and most importantly, automobiles. Virtually every automobile company began
a program. During this same period Moller's predecessor company, M Research, began
researching the potential of the rotary engine. Unfortunately, there was major interruption
in fuel supplies in the mid 1970's, concurrent with government-mandated improvements
in emissions. Retooling for a new engine that was at that time not particularly fuel
efficient while addressing emissions became too risky for the auto industry. In addition,
Mazda Motors, which was the first company to volume-produce rotary-engine-powered
automobiles (RX-2), had a side seal problem that allowed the rotor-cooling oil to enter
the combustion chamber. This required Mazda to recall tens of thousands of their
automobiles for what was in effect a major overhaul. Mazda forged ahead and by 2006
their RX-8 model won the Sport Car of the Year Award. However rotary engines were
never the ideal candidate as the prime mover for automobiles because they operate best
over a narrow RPM band.
The only other company to successfully mass produce rotary engines was Outboard
Marine Corporation (OMC), which began manufacturing an air-cooled snowmobile
rotary engine in the early 1970's. At that time, OMC was the world's leading producer of
outboard motors, and anticipated changing their marine line to use rotary engines as well.
This was motivated by their concern that 2-stroke piston engines that powered all their
products would fail proposed emissions standards. According to their division manager,
OMC developed production-ready models for their marine line at a cost of over $200
million in 1970 dollars. This program established that the rotary engine could be built for
a cost virtually identical to their inexpensive 2-stroke piston engines. When the
administration in Washington changed in 1980, emissions ceased to be a high priority and
OMC dropped their production plans. Between 1983 and 1989, Moller acquired the
entire rotary engine assets of OMC.
In 1997, Moller International also acquired the assets of Infinite Engines, a NASDAQ
listed company which with Moller's help had developed a rotary engine for the marine
and snowmobile markets. By this time, Moller and its predecessor companies
(M Research and Moller Corp) had developed a number of patented improvements to
the rotary engine. With the acquisition of the engine technology from OMC and
Infinite Engines, Moller International incorporated these patented improvements into its
own proven engine designs.
Moller International and Freedom Motors have spent nearly $30 million in engine
development costs to date and have successfully completed numerous research contracts.
APPENDIX B
Freedom Motors
Freedom Motors was founded in 1997 as a wholly owned division of Moller International
(OTC: MLER). In 2001 it became a separate corporation. At that time it acquired the
exclusive rights from Moller International (MI) to manufacture, market and sub-lease its
ROTAPOWER® Engines for worldwide use in all applications except aircraft and ducted
fans.
Freedom Motors has demonstrated that its BASIC ROTAPOWER® Engines can meet
California’s requirements for Ultra Low Emission Vehicles (ULEV) while running on
gasoline, and can meet Super Ultra Low Emission Vehicle levels (SULEV) running on
ethanol. Both of these emissions levels were achieved without a catalytic converter.
Moller International, in contract with Freedom Motors, is also developing and patenting a
unique design that ”compounds” the ROTAPOWER® Engines and gives them the
additional potential to achieve extremely low fuel consumption. COMPOUND
ROTAPOWER® Engines recover the energy normally lost in the exhaust (up to 40%).
These new engines will be incorporated into the “ROTAPAC” (engine+generator), a
system particularly suited as the supplemental power source for Plug-in Hybrid Electric
Vehicles (PHEVs) as well as portable generators. Versions are also being developed to
operate on diesel and aviation fuels.
As part of their license agreement with Moller International, Freedom Motors took
ownership of all of MI's hard engine related assets – tooling, machine tools, production
equipment, engine inventory and ROTAPOWERed® vehicles.
Paul Moller, Chairman of the Board, founded Freedom Motors in 1997 and has served as
the company's President since its formation. He holds a Masters and Ph.D. in
Engineering from McGill University. Dr. Moller was a professor of Mechanical and
Aeronautical Engineering at the University of California, Davis, from 1963 to 1975,
where he developed the Aeronautical Engineering program. Moller invented the
“SuperTrapp Muffler” and in 1972, founded SuperTrapp Industries. As Chief Executive
Officer, he made SuperTrapp the most recognized international name in high-
performance engine silencing systems. SuperTrapp Industries was sold in 1988.
In 1983, he founded Moller International to develop powered lift aircraft. Under his
direction Moller International completed contracts with NASA, NOSC, DARPA, NRL,
Harry Diamond Labs, Hughes Aircraft Company, California Department of Trans-
portation, and the U.S. Army, Navy, and Air Force. These contracts included the
development and deployment of numerous unmanned aerial vehicles and Wankel-based
ROTAPOWER® Engines. In 1998 he received a recognition award from NASA for work
performed under a DARPA contract titled "Tests of Thermal Barrier and Wear Coats in
Rotary Engines".
In 2000 he and Dr. Daniel Goldin, head of NASA, jointly testified before the Aviation
Subcommittee of the US Congress on the "Future of Aviation in America".
Dr. Moller has received 43 patents including the first U.S. patent on a fundamentally new
form of powered lift aircraft, popularly known as the Skycar.25 In fact, Dr. Moller’s
impetus for developing ROTAPOWER® Engines was his need for a lightweight, efficient
engine to power his Skycars, a class of personal vertical-takeoff-and-landing aircraft
(VTOLs) that are capable of traveling on the ground and flying horizontally.
A man of many talents and interests, in 1980 Dr. Moller developed the Davis Research
Park, a 38-acre industrial-research complex within the city of Davis, CA, in which Moller
International is based. He also raises organic almonds and sells organic almond butter on
the internet.
25
See more at <http://www.moller.com/skyc.htm> There are several Skycar models, seating 1-4
passengers, that can travel moderate distances on the ground at up to 40 mph, and in the air at cruising
speeds in excess of 300 mph.