lol on the snowmobile clutch....
I wouldn't call it unreliable, put it this way, it's not the first thing that goes in snowmobiles
Too complex, not really, i've taken the clutch assemblies apart on a few occasions, in fact it's the same in snow mobiles and automatic ATVs, but it's by far not the most efficient device, nor would it prove too too useful in creating pumping force to power a pump of any sort, but it can be used to regenerate power in another manner. A similar system attached to each drive shaft of the vehicle (assuming you have 2wd), could help with recovering energy and charge batteries. a light weight fly wheel with a clutch system that will engage as the car starts moving and will rotate a small generator shaft with a set of high-powered permanent magnets (your basic generator but a rather miniaturized version). The weight will be actually a not-so-bad factor in this equation, because the more weight you give that fly-wheel rotor/stator assembly, will to some extent give you better power regeneration after you stop, this way the car, like hybrids which i think use this idea already, will give you a better gas mileage in stop and go traffic vs high-way use, but will non-the-less regenerate power that is otherwise wasted.
I also like that air turbine for exhaust, although i don't know what the cost of that power recovery is, because a turbine will create more back pressure which may lead to some unwanted side effects (such as engine not starting), although if the engine is engineered to have that back pressure, i dunno...
And finally on the shocks power generation. Yes, it is an interesting concept, yes, it is something that is yet to be used, yes it can work, but, it would make for a fairly complex design of a couple of elements. First of all, the blades that would ratate when the fluid passes over them in either direction, not saying it's a very hard design concept, however it is something that is not used on most hydro power generation platforms.... Second is a system that will control the exact amount of fluid being passed through this turbine, "why?" you may ask? well, with introduction of a turbine, the way that sock works, will be a little different, for example, a shock absorber is designed such that as the shock compresses, the dampening remains constant (assuming we are discussing car shocks, not bike shocks with built in springs). if you have a rotating element that can create suction, then when a car hits the bump, while the rotors spool up, the car's shocks will remain stiffer, then when the rotors spool, the shock will operate normally, and then finally when the shock reaches either the top or the bottom travel point, and reverses fluid flow direction, there is still centripetal force being produced by a turning turbine which will now contribute to a suction force that will be aiding the action of the piston for a brief moment (i will comment on blade design later)...
Another thought on this shock power regeneration valve. You probably can not directly build in the turbine into the flow control valve, because the oil in shocks can get quite very hot (that is why you see the overflow/clooling cylinder on those shocks in the picture, exists on shocks designed for heavy use, such as racing shocks, shocks for heavy or luxury cars, etc). When oil gets really hot, it has a tendency to become flammable (not all oils, so i am not listing this as a definite draw back from making a simpler design), and one thing you don't want is power generator sparking... and another reason for having to isolate the turbine and the generator is that shock fluid, over time, builds up shavings and miniature particles of metal from the surrounding shock material, and that is probably another thing you don't want stuck in your generator
Lastly i wanted to mention that whoever makes this, will need to be quite well versed in thermodynamics, because the design of a blade with decent efficiency (even as high as 40-60%) that will spin at high frequencies, be bydirectional and rotate in the same direction whether the flow is going over the top or the bottom of the blade.
Lastly like i said, you will probably have to isolate the turbine from the generator, now in its simplest form, you have a shaft that connects the two, parts, that shaft will have to survive some hefty twisting with turbine constantly speeding up and slowing down, more so speeding up though. And lastly, lastly, this will introduce spinning parts into the shock, making them more complex and heavier (to some extent), which will introduce it's own problems (AKA more things that can break, and cost, as if shocks aren't expensive as they are)
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Microsoft, the leader in using innovative tactics to promote irksome experience, coupled with antiquated technology that's held together by a pyramid of makeshift afterthoughts.
Apple, the leader in using irksome tactics to promote innovative experience, coupled with an antiquated core that's enhanced by state-of-the-art afterthoughts.
Linux, the leader in not using any tactics to promote user-defined experience, coupled with state-of-the-art core enhanced by innovative afterthoughts.
