Grassroots Mechanic Movement

PIE 2.0 All Pretty — Before Being Worked Hard, Out in the Real World

I find that it has been tough to get busy and simply do what needs to be done lately. The PIE 2.0 has had to take a “back seat” to far more important family business, but I finally did get some time to finish up some “real world” testing at a reasonable speed of 55 MPH (88 KPH). It is not an easy thing to find a “flat” stretch of highway in the Northeastern United States (about 350 miles inland), so I have made do with a straight stretch with only some small rolling hills and with an estimated elevation rise from start to finish of approximately 15-20 feet (not verified with altimeter).

As before, measurements are taken and only considered valid if measured values are repetitively similar.

I was able to bring the PIE 2.0 up to slightly over 120 RPMs and test before it broke this last time and left a weight laying in the truck bed.

So, here is a simplified recap of test results obtained on this test roadway at 55 mph withal accessories off and auto trans in 3 (not OD) to help keep it from shifting during the test:

Running at 90 to 100 RPMs, engine load reduction was 6%.

Running at 105 to 108 RPMs, engine load reduction was 8%.

Running at 120 to 122 RPMs, engine load reduction was 13%.

At 120 to 122 RPMs the “feel” of forward thrust was much smoother although overall vibration was fairly pronounced.

During the final test run two things happened causing testing to end for the day.

First one of the weights found its way off the planet gear and into the bed of the test truck.

Second, the drill motor overheated, slowed and finally stopped until it cooled off. 

Note that the picture on the left shows an added piece of metal welded to the frame to keep the drill bracket from shifting position which was a key problem with the drill’s chuck “slipping” on the shaft.

Results: The PIE 2.0 design is a viable Hybrid design!  It definitely needs a better build (no prototype temporary components), a better motor, and a sound deadening enclosure, but this is a repeatable, working design that can be built on a budget!

Conclusion of This Round of On-Road Testing: I am way past encouraged and I am soooo ready to build the next gen “PieTech” design. There are others also working on their own versions of a PIE so I really do not know what version my next will be, but I know it will be able to run at more than 120 RPMs!!!

The PIE 2.0 is, overall, a resounding success and it will be repaired. I do want to perform some “self-propulsion” demos with it before I consider it finished. I am hoping to video it on wheels and on water. I have had 1 request for a pendulum test, I do not consider it as accurate since it is too easy to skew the outcome by simply moving the center of gravity, so I have not seriously considered it yet.

The PIE 2.0 is running much better now, and although it was not without frustration, I was finally able to make some test runs.

I did have to make some repairs to the lower sun gear and I also corrected the crooked outer stop. One of the teeth on the lower sun gear broke off and when that happened the lower wheel started “jumping timing” like crazy.

When the failure(s) happened, the timing got pushed to the 11 o’clock position and that is a bit too “retarded” or “late”, the planetary alignment position (I like that terminology) should be a bit earlier at about 10 o’clock. This late timing is very evident in the PIE’s upper framework, when running at just over 100 RPMs the upper frame deflects to the right which tells me I am losing forward propulsion power.

I am fortunate enough to be able to see the upper part of the pie in my rear view mirror while driving so I was able to visually see that the timing was off.

I took a short video of the sideways movement to demonstrate this to anyone building a PIE, I will show it here but I probably won’t post it on YouTube or Bitchute since it falls under the heading of a builder’s note but here it is.

During testing, I did not have the tools with me to adjust the timing (won’t make that mistake again – I hope) so the results listed below were obtained with incorrect timing.

Testing:

To eliminate variations in atmospheric and fuel conditions, all comparative tests are run consecutively. 

Test Track: 1.2 miles with a 20-mph speed limit (during business hours) around a nearly abandoned shopping mall with 2 stop signs.

The Scanner used to collect the data is a Matco Determinator, which is the Matco branded OTC Pegisys scan tool system, and the test vehicle is a 2005 Chevrolet Colorado Z85 crew cab pick up truck with a 3.5 liter engine and automatic transmission.

Multiple passes were made both with and without assistance while monitoring vehicle speed and engine load on graphing scales with a running average counter. There were some anomalous results obtained that showed both better and worse results, so they were “thrown out” and only the repeatable results were used to obtain that which is shown below.

Average speed measurement during all test runs was maintained at 17 to 18 mph.

Engine load average without PIE assist. – 40%

Engine load average with PIE assist. – 36%

Total gain with PIE 2.0 was a 4% reduction in engine load. This “should” improve with the timing correction; results will be posted here and on MeWe.

Well it works, but as with any new design there are issues. I have put around 19 miles on it and it really does seem to work well, when it will keep running.

First and foremost is the locking up problem. The little springs did a reasonably good job of stopping the lockup on start-up, unless I started it at a bit of a higher speed. High speed start-up would overpower the springs and locking was still an issue. Then came the locking problem while driving. Every time I might hit a bump, or tap the brakes, it would lock up. So, I took the weights off, cut the metal tab off for the outer stops, and welded stops onto the planet gears. One corner of each weight then had to be trimmed so it would not hit the new stops and viola, no more locking. I did get one of the stops a bit crooked, but I will fix that next week.

Second was the drill motor kept cutting out. Apparently, there is a bad spot in the variable speed trigger, and (of course) I found it. With the new stops came a bit of a smoother run at higher speeds, so I upped the speed and the motor no longer stopped randomly… Until the fuse blew… Replaced fuse with circuit breaker and then the chuck loosened up on the chain drive shaft…

The PIE did lock up one more time, because of the crooked outer stop (that I WILL be fixing next week) the weight hit it hard enough to slip past it and lock on the back side. Reset and speed reduced slightly it seems to have worked fine on the last trip around the block, although there is a definite speed to power correlation. More speed=more power!

Once testing on this model is complete, a high-speed unit is definitely on the drawing board!

 I do have to wonder why… Why it is that when testing on public streets and roads it seems that every bad driver within miles is attracted to the test vehicle?!?!? Getting tailgated, cut-off, swerved at, nearly t-boned, and behind extremely slow drivers happens every time. I sure am glad it’s Friday!!!

The PIE 2.0 is basically ready for real world testing. The PIE is fastened to a pallet and is being driven by the cordless drill used to test it. I made a bracket for the drill and “gutted” an inoperative battery pack so I could connect wires easily. This allows me to power it from the vehicle’s electrical system or a 12V battery so that a simple on/off control is accessible to the driver.

PIE 2.0 Ready to come off Work Bench

The Power for the PIE 2.0, and the Bracket for the Drill

I do still need a weather cover as it will be tested in the same pickup truck as the PIE 1.0 was, but that is the simple part of the whole project.

I will be posting all findings here on the blog and also on MeWe (www.mewe.com/i/bryanstclair).

I want to reaffirm the intent of the Grassroots Mechanic Movement (GMM) to freely distribute and promote the “reactionless” propulsion technology of the Pulsed Inertial Engine (PIE). I do not advertise the Grassroots Mechanic Movement, and I do not charge anything for the full disclosure information published either here or on the blog. I also do not have any monetization (at this time) of my videos or the blog. The videos are available on YouTube as well as Bitchute and I find it rather interesting that there are a lot more views on Bitchute.

I encourage mechanics, tinkerers, technicians, and anyone who is curious to build one of these and PLEASE post the results.

Too many people who made public statements and videos about this tech claimed it was not workable, but they also did not follow ALL of the original instructions laid out by the original inventor, Brandson “Roy” Thornson. The important internal “trigger” mechanisms were not built and installed, so the “replications” weren’t really replicas at all.

Check my videos, actually read my blog, download the shared files listed within the blog, visit MeWe, and then go to your workshop and build one for yourself. I have laid out the build to be as inexpensive as possible utilizing many used parts from the auto recycling yards, scrap metal pieces and even custom building the gears without a machine shop.

In less than 1 weekend of puttering around the garage (like many of us do) any hobbyist, or home mechanic, with a grinder and a welder can have a single wheel with 1 weight working and proving that this technology works.

Building Upward & Using Torsion Springs

I have repeatedly said that I would make this project 100% open source, I am keeping my word and even though I don’t have it ready to run yet, I am posting a reasonably major update now.

I have not posted any real updates as to the status of the PIE 2.0 build in the last few days, so here is what I’m up to.

The PIE 2.0 is progressing very well so far. I had a problem with the weights “jamming” on start up because I am using the planet gear axles as the outer stops. This seems to be alleviated by using very weak torsion springs to push the weights out of the position that jams the rotation. The springs add very little to the force of the weights swinging outward and should pose no significant change to operation. I will include more info about the springs if anyone requests it, and if there is someone following this who is also building a PIE 2.0, I can get these springs for you if you let me know.

 This significant change is an integral part of the now modular nature of the PIE 2.0 and “should” be a design that can be expanded in time. It also gives the PIE 2.0 a much smaller footprint, this will allow it to be installed and used effectively in much more confined areas.

This modular design could also be further developed with a logic controller and individual stepper motors controlling each wheel. That would allow non-linear build designs that can be suited to custom applications.

With this new “double-decker” design, I am also enhancing the framework so that (hopefully) testing can be completed without the unit breaking itself too badly under load. Remember that this is still a prototype and prototypes are built to reveal flaws and weaknesses as well as being a testable model.