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So if you claim that the web should be devoid of animation, then what do you recommend for illustrating how a rotary engine operates?

Expanding further on the parents post, here are some animated examples to help his description.

Radial
stationary cylinders, rotating crank
stationary crank, rotating cylinders

Wankel
Wankel
Wankel

Expanding further on the parents post, here are some animated examples to help his description.

Radial
stationary cylinders, rotating crank
stationary crank, rotating cylinders

Wankel
Wankel
Wankel

Basically, instead of mechanical elements providing all the timing, a computer takes inputs from a variety of sensors (accelerator position, air flow, oxygen, knock, camshaft/crankshaft position, etc), mashes them through a complex real-time algorithm, and spits out commands to advance/retard spark timing, adjust the fuel/air mixture (after all, a fuel injector is nothing more than a very fancy solenoid valve driven by pulse-code modulation techniques), valve opening/closure (in some high-end cars the valves are driven by solenoids to allow very precise timing - I expect this to become more mainstream), etc. Other computers control when/how to shift (in an automatic transmission system - sometimes - others just use standard load/hydraulics to control this - which is nothing more than a fancy hydraulic analog computer), how to apply the brakes (anti-lock brakes and traction control via monitoring wheel slippage/etc via toothed magnetic hall-effect sensor packages)...

In the end, though, it is just an piston moving in a cylinder connected to a crankshaft spinning a flywheel connected to transmission (composed of either an "inline" manual gear train with a clutch or an automatic with torque-convertor and two to four inline planetary gear devices - or, on certain Hondas and others, a CVT using conical devices and belts or similar) connected to a driveshaft connected to a differential which spins the wheels. Some of these may be front wheel drive vehicles where all of those packages are packed tightly into one case, or in a rear-wheel drive vehicle, spread along the length of the undercarriage. But honestly, cars are simple, and always will be. I think as long as Chilton and Haynes continue to do complete tear-downs and rebuilds, fixing your own car won't be that big of a deal (unless the horror that is those "electro-mechanical" fasteners become vogue - and even then, nothing a cutting torch can't get through). I imagine cars will become more complex - hybrids are pretty advanced - but all they do is throw a generator/motor/battery package in the drivetrain mix, so if you know anything about electric cars, charge controllers, motor controllers, etc - no real big deal.

Personally, I think most of the problems with today's vehicles don't stem so much from seeming complexities of the vehicle themselves, but rather from the lack of information about how all the systems work together from the manufacturer. Basically, the control system (the computer, sensors, etc) of the system is "closed source" - it was like pulling teeth to get the manufacturer to give out information about the codes the ECU throws when there is a problem, to regular joe mechanics and engine scan-tool makers - and that took an "act of Congress" - quite literally! Manufacturers are doing everything it can to keep the home mechanic (even - and maybe especially - those who understand the computer side of the equation) from repairing their own cars. Audi even has a vehicle out there without a hood - just a little door on the fender to put fluids in. To get to the engine, you have to remove the whole front body work of the car, and there is an "interlock" mechanism that flags the computer when this is done, so even if you got it off and had access, the computer won't let you restart the car unless you trigger the proper sequence (which is probably only known by Audi and their dealers - thus requiring you to take it to the dealer for maintenance and pay big $$$$!) - now, this wouldn't be so bad if this just stayed on "rich people's cars" - but it probably won't, it will trickle down to normal vehicles quicker than you realize - I expect within 10 years, maybe sooner, for it to be like this.

It is getting to the point where I am seriously considering building my next car from "scratch" (actually, a combination of scratch and "junk" parts)...

Incidentally, the 37-foot diameter units described in the article generate 25 kW each - I wonder if they'd be suitable for domestic use?

Incidentally, the 37-foot diameter units described in the article generate 25 kW each - I wonder if they'd be suitable for domestic use?

It's great for simple process visualizations.

Check out uncommon or odd designs for engines, which would be very difficult to imagine from a text description with a few small pictures.

There are others - google search animated gif "subject" to find useful illustrations for any process.

-Adam

Checkout this "green" engine concept, it's fascinating. It's
half way between the Wankel rotary engine and the turbine is a new engine/pump that could very well replace the 200 years old piston engine; it's way more fuel efficient it's 1/5 lighter for the same power and has a wide power range with torque at low rpms(lessening the need for a gearbox for automotive application, and is 1/20 less noisy, and will run on a wide variety of fuels with very little/no polution because of prevented NOx formation. The inventor, Mr St-Hilaire, has a PhD in Physics, but is not too good at web designing as you will see. ;-). Here is a pdf file explaining the concept.

Face batteries are still not an option for the transportation industry, and the fuel cell is still in it's infancy and in both cases the whole car has to be redesigned. This engine concept is a great intermediary step, it could get integrated in existing infrastructures.