Gas-Powered Boots As Metaphor For Cold War

News.com has a piece up looking at a set of gas-powered boots that were developed during the cold war. While the technology itself is interesting, article author Andrew Kramer uses it as a launching point for a discussion of Russia's technological stagnation during the cold war. Outside of military applications, many of the innovative ideas developed in the former USSR during the 80s and early 90s were left to rot on the drawing board. The boots were eventually brought to market, but failed sometime last year. They do, of course, also go into how the boots work: "Taking a step down will compress air in the shoe--as in a typical sneaker, said Enikeev, who was a designer on the project. But then, a tiny carburetor injects gasoline into the compressed air and a spark plug fires it off. Instead of fastening a seat belt, the institute's test runner, Marat D. Garipov, an assistant professor of engineering, strapped on shin belts at a recent demonstration. Then he flicked an ignition switch."

Comments

Ummmmm?

[Whiney Mac Fanboy]

The article's author holds up the boots as an example of how entrepreneurism is failing in Russia. I'm not sure it's such a good example, as the reason the boots failed is - from tfa:

the energy in calories used to move the two-pound boot at a run would exceed the energy input from the gasoline engine.

and

gasoline-assisted running remains dangerous.

"The worst situation is when the spark fires as the runner just lands, and the force of the blast is absorbed by his body," Garipov explains flatly.

The two powerful engines tend to throw a wearer off balance or cause knees to buckle.

Doh!

Also, check this:

The Russian inventor of the Tetris video game was unable to patent his invention, and thus lost out on huge amounts of money.

WTF? Where could the 'inventor' of tetris have gained patent protection? Methinks the author of tfa has no idea what they're talking about.

Oh - and what you really came to the comments for - links to pics & vids: Video #1, Video #2, and a nice diagram of how they work.

Re:Ummmmm?

[Jah-Wren Ryel]

WTF? Where could the 'inventor' of tetris have gained patent protection?

What? Doesn't he deserve compensation for all of the uses his idea has been put to? The stacking of multiply shaped bricks to create large structures? Every building in the world was constructed using his methods. If it weren't for Tetris, there would be no construction, anywhere! The world owes him a huge debt.

Disambiguation

[Anonymous Coward]

That's gas as in `gasoline, the fuel for motor cars'. Not gas as in `gas, the third state of matter and fuel for cookers and heaters'.

When I lived in North America, that particular usage confused me almost as much as `homo milk'.

Re:Disambiguation

[CmdrGravy]

Honestly ! I am aware that the average american has next to no grasp of their external geography but to describe the USA as a little island in the Atlantic is verging on frightening.

In Soviet Russia....

[CommandoMBJ]

In Soviet Russia boots run you!!

Nuclear powered was better

[Flying pig]

At University we worked out the feasibility of a nuclear pogo stick. The idea is that the piston and the top end of the cylinder each contain subcritical masses of a suitable isotope. As the pogo stick compresses, the masses approach, generating heat, which expands the gas driving the stick. As the piston expands, at one point it uncovers a suitable gas to air heat exchanger through which the gas flows, cooling it and allowing the cycle to resume. (Basically a Stirling cycle). The air side of the heat exchanger is cooled by air movement.

Shielding is a bit of an issue, also ensuring that the helium used as the gas doesn't get out, though a suitable nuclear isotope would replace a slow loss of helium with alpha particles.

So there you have it, a carbon neutral, cheap and easily manufactured transport system. I'm honestly amazed we couldn't get anybody interested in manufacturing it in volume.

The Gas Powered Condom

[goombah99]

This gives me a great idea. As the piston enters the cylinder, it compresses the air and a small amount of fuel is injected....
Resulting in reciprocating action even if the wearer is to tired to propel the engine themselves. My calculations show that speeds of up to 3600 RPMs and durations of 4 hours may be possible on a single tank of gas. This should be a great boon for exhausted soldiers and sailors to make the most of their limited R&R leaves.

The fuel injection is all handled peristatically so the only complex part is the magneto for the spark. I'm working on eliminating that by going to a diesel version, be so far the glow plug in the tip has just cause nasty burns.