Pretty-interesting: https://newatlas.com/camcon-digital-iva-valve-system/55827/
From the article:
British company Camcon Automotive has built the first fully electronic engine valve system, uncoupled from the crankshaft, that offers unprecedented control over the combustion cycle.
Variable valve timing is nothing new. It's been obvious to manufacturers for decades that the optimal valve operation is different when the engine's doing different things, and that changing the timing, lift and duration of the valve events on an engine to suit different scenarios can result in power, torque, efficiency and emissions advantages.
What makes Camcon's system different is that it allows complete, instant and unrestricted control over exactly what any intake or exhaust valve is doing, at any time, regardless of what the engine itself is doing. That's because Camcon's IVA (Intelligent Valve Actuation) system is fully electronic, making it the first valve system on the market that has no mechanical attachment to the crankshaft.
There are no timing belts or valve springs, with each valve getting its own miniature camshaft, complete with a desmodromic system that opens and closes the valves precisely and mechanically. And instead of being driven off the crank, each valve's camshaft is controlled by an electric motor.
These motors can rotate either way with total precision, and for a given valve event they can rotate through fully to give 100 percent of the available valve lift, or they can stop part-way through and return back to closed, so you can get literally any degree of valve lift you want, at any time. There's a video at the bottom of the page to give you a better visual explanation.
The system knows the position of the crankshaft at all times thanks to a rotary position sensor – in fact, the whole system runs under real-time, closed-loop control, so that valve events are timed perfectly against what the motor's doing.
From the article:
British company Camcon Automotive has built the first fully electronic engine valve system, uncoupled from the crankshaft, that offers unprecedented control over the combustion cycle.
Variable valve timing is nothing new. It's been obvious to manufacturers for decades that the optimal valve operation is different when the engine's doing different things, and that changing the timing, lift and duration of the valve events on an engine to suit different scenarios can result in power, torque, efficiency and emissions advantages.
What makes Camcon's system different is that it allows complete, instant and unrestricted control over exactly what any intake or exhaust valve is doing, at any time, regardless of what the engine itself is doing. That's because Camcon's IVA (Intelligent Valve Actuation) system is fully electronic, making it the first valve system on the market that has no mechanical attachment to the crankshaft.
There are no timing belts or valve springs, with each valve getting its own miniature camshaft, complete with a desmodromic system that opens and closes the valves precisely and mechanically. And instead of being driven off the crank, each valve's camshaft is controlled by an electric motor.
These motors can rotate either way with total precision, and for a given valve event they can rotate through fully to give 100 percent of the available valve lift, or they can stop part-way through and return back to closed, so you can get literally any degree of valve lift you want, at any time. There's a video at the bottom of the page to give you a better visual explanation.
The system knows the position of the crankshaft at all times thanks to a rotary position sensor – in fact, the whole system runs under real-time, closed-loop control, so that valve events are timed perfectly against what the motor's doing.
