Thornson Inertial Engine
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The Thornson Inertial Engine (TIE) uses the force from a rotating inertial mass (centrifugal force) to produce a linear impulse. The Thornson drive is composed of eccentric masses which, according to its supporters, when rotated properly causes a cancellation of all forces except those in one direction, resulting in the movement in that direction of the engine and anything attached to it.
The effect is not accepted by professional physicists, who consider it to be pseudo-science, in direct violation of some of the most carefully tested laws of physics.
Unlike other inertial propulsion engines, however, the TIE does not rely on the non-linear nature of friction to operate. It relies upon the non-linear nature of impulse resulting from a symmetric, double epicycloid-path, eccentric weight. A large force in one direction is normally enough to overcome the slip friction with the surface it sits on, but the return force is spread out over time and therefore below the threshold needed. The TIE device undergoes a single "jerk" upon impact of the eccentric weight against the axis and then moves forward. This effect does not disappear when the engine is suspended in the air, or placed in a vacuum chamber, free from surface friction, as demonstrated in the commercial video "Free Energy: Race to Zero Point" produced by Lightworks AV. The Pendulum Test, seen in the video, closely monitors the center of gravity position of the suspended TIE. During operation, the TIE clearly stays a few degrees away from the vertical position, whether the TIE impulses to the left or subsequently tested for impulse generation to the right.
The video also shows a larger TIE model powering a canoe, which unlike a rowboat, has no flat surface to prevent back-motion. If friction were involved, the canoe would simply oscillate and only the rowboat would show forward motion. A small tabletop TIE model also climbs a 10 degree incline.
Intersociety Energy Conversion Engineering Conference Proceedings (IECEC) of 1993 and 1994 have a two-part TIE article by Thomas Valone that explains more of the mechanical principles involved.