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Steorn

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Orbo-Modell
Advertisement of Steorn in The economist

Steorn Ltd. is an Irish company based in Dublin which claims to have build a Perpetual Motion device called "Orbo" that, violating fundamental principles of physics, is supposed to create limitless energy.

In August 2006 Steorn placed a large scale advertisement receiving wide attention in the English newspaper "The Economist"[1] claiming to be able to provide "free, clean and constant energy".[2] The scientific community was challenged to investigate the technology and report the findings to the world. According to the advertisement price list of the newspaper they spent about 125.000 Euro (£ 85.200) on that ad.

Several tries to show a functioning Orbo-PM to the public failed. A group of scientists which were allowed to test the device could not find evidence that it could create "energy for nothing".[3]

An allegedly working Orbo unit constructed of clear plastic was shown on 15. Dezember 2009 in Dublin (Waterways Centre Building) and video streams of the running device were published on the website.[4] The claims of the company Steorn about the "Orbo"-Technology violate the first law of thermodynamics, that energy in an isolated system stays the same and can neither be destroyed nor created. It can only change forms.[5]

Orbo

 
Orbo-technology(Bild:Steorn-Video)

The wonder-technology from Steorn called "Steorn Orbo Technology" is based on a fictitious "time variant magneto-mechanical interaction"[6] and said to be able to provide "clean energy" for mobile sound systems and cars. It is claimed to be a so called "overunity technology", which means that it can create more energy than it consumes. Orbo is a registered brand.

Older publications of Steorn purported that energy was created using time variant magnetic viscosity, an effect that only Steorn has understood. According to Steorn fast convergence of magnets uses less energy than pulling them apart slowly because the magnets would not have enough time to readjust their magnetic domains.

The eOrbo device that was shown in Dublin is said to draw pulse-shaped electric current from a little battery and form it to a magnetic field using small inductors which affect the attraction of the rotating permanent magnets in the following ways: During convergence they maximize the attracting powers and during parting they minimize it. Such a "Broken Symmetry" hypothesis had been formulated by a Tom Bearden years before..[7] The right moment to pulse power is said to be determined by a Reed relay. The rotation of the magnets should induce current in conductors (according to Faraday's law of induction) which should charge the battery after rectification. The engine output is ostensibly higher than the consumption (overunity) and it is therefore unnecessary to ever replace the battery.

Demonstrations

 
 
 
Offline

On 4 July 2007 an Orbo-unit was prepared to be shown at the Kinetica Museum, Spitalfields Market, London. The public demonstration was delayed and then canceled because of technical difficulties. Steorn declared initially that the heat from the spotlights had interfered with the device but later changed it's comment.[8] They stated later that the problems were cause by a "greenhouse effect within the box.[9][10]

Another demonstration was scheduled on 15 December 2009 and promoted through postings and video streams. The device was displayed at the Waterways Visitor Centre, Dublin and three video streams were shown in the Internet (Links: [1] [2] [3]). The streams were interrupted several times. Also, cleaners moved the demonstration boxes out of sight to clean the area.

The Orbo device was powered with a small rechargeable battery, which was supposed to be recharged through the running model and would never become dead. Steorn claimed that the "Orbo 2009" model produces three times the energy it consumes. Surplus energy was said to evaporate as heat. The energy was said to come from the magnets (Orbo is a technology that creates energy from magnetic interactions.).[11] The demonstration was scheduled to last six weeks, with a break from 24 December to 4. January 2010. No measuring instruments, which might have shown input or output of the device, could be seen on the videos. According to Steorn giving a precise energy balance was not possible due to the "complexity" of the simple engine. Since the whole device might have been powered by the shown rechargeable battery (1,2 Volt/10 Ah) the demonstration is no proof for the claims of Steorn. An independent examination of the device could provide such a proof. Voltage and amperage of the battery would have to be monitored to calculate the energy balance of the system. Using a capacitor instead of the rechargeable 10 Ah-battery was no option according to Steorn. They claim: Capacitors have a delay in delivering current.[12] Capacitors are actually able to provide current without delay.

Tests

A group of scientists were chosen by Steorn for a jury to investigate the Orbo technology. It was headed by Ian MacDonald, emeritus professor of electrical engineering at the University of Alberta. In 2009 they came to the unanimous verdict that Steorn's attempts to demonstrate the claim have not shown the production of energy. [13][3] The members of the jury had to sign a nondisclosure agreement.

Public Reception / Reaction

The advertisement in The Economist and the claims of Steorn received an echo in newspapers and blogs of several countries. Articles in scientific papers do not exist (March 2011).

Steorn Ltd.

 
Sean McCarthy

Steorn Ltd. was founded 2000 in Dublin and is owned by the Irish-born Sean McCarthy (sometimes "Shaun David McCarthy"). Steorn calls itself a "leading Intellectual Property development company". In the past Steorn was actually a "dot-com company" in the Internet business and provided expertise to detect forgery and fraud with cash cards and optical data storage devices. In October 2001 Steorn changed its description to "specialist service company providing programme management and technical assessment advice for European companies engaging in e-commerce projects". Steorn seemed to work on the development of micro generators, which can harvest tiny amounts of energy from movement, e.g. for watches without battery. Later a USB-Echosensor for measurement of magnetic fields and a "Magnetic Torque Measurement System" (to measure pure torque of permanent magnets) were developed and sold.

In 2006 is said to have earned 2,5 Million Euro through investors. Collectively Steorn is said to have gotten more than 8 Million Euro from investors which got company shares. Critics object that Steorn is just a clever marketing company which draws interest on itself through claims to win customers.

A patent for the Orbo technology was allegedly submitted by Steorn, but not granted to date(March 2011). Steorn does own several patents on magnetic measurement devices:[14]

  • PASSIVE MAGNETIC BEARING. Inventor: MCCARTHY SEAN [IE] ; FLANAGAN SEAMUS [IE]. Applicant: STEORN LTD [IE]. EC: F16C19/10; F16C32/04; IPC: H02K7/09. US2011001379 (A1) - 2011-01-06
  • TORQUE MEASUREMENT SYSTEM. Inventor: MCCARTHY SEAN [IE]. Applicant: STEORN LTD [IE]. ECLA: G01P3/486; G01D5/347C. WO2009087476 (A2) - 2009-07-16
  • SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MEASURING ENERGY IN MAGNETIC INTERACTIONS. Inventor: MCCARTHY SEAN DAVID [IE]; SIMPSON ALAN [IE]. Applicant: STEORN LTD [IE]. ECLA: G01R33/038B; G01R33/038. IPC: G01R33/12; G01L3/00; G01R19/00. US2009009157 (A1) 2009-01-08
  • SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MEASURING INTERACTION OF LOADS. Inventor: MCCARTHY SHAUN DAVID [IE]; DALY MICHAEL ANDREW [IE]. Applicant: STEORN LTD [IE]; MCCARTHY SHAUN DAVID [IE]. ECLA: G01L3/10; G01M13/02H IPC: G01L3/04; G01L3/10; G01L25/00. WO2008020424 (A1) — 2008-02-21
  • LOW ENERGY MAGNETIC ACTUATOR. Inventor: MCCARTHY SHAUN DAVID [IE]; SIMPSON ALAN [IE]. Applicant: STEORN LTD [IE]; MCCARTHY SHAUN DAVID [IE]. ECLA: H01F7/02A; H01F7/02B4. IPC: (IPC1-7): H01F7/02. WO2006035419 (A1) - 2006-04-06

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Quellennachweise

  1. ↑ The Economist, August 19, 2006
  2. ↑ Archive page of the Orbo claim
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Irish 'energy for nothing' gizmo fails jury vetting, Irish Times Wed 06 Jun 2009
  4. ↑ Steorn shows revolving Orbo to the public , ZDNet, 15 December, 2009
  5. ↑ Irish energy miracle 'a joke'TheAge, August 20, 2006
  6. ↑ Laws of Physics Apparently Being Rewritten Today, Tech Crunch Jul 4, 2007
  7. ↑ http://www.cheniere.org/references/brokensymmetry.htm
  8. ↑ Irish firm's display of 'free-energy' machine delayed, Belfast Telegraph, 5 July 2007
  9. ↑ Harsh light shines on free energy, Physics World August 2007
  10. ↑ Top 15 Web Hoaxes of All Time, July 15, 2009 by Josh Catone
  11. ↑ What is Orbo?, Steorn Website, retrieved 9 March 2011
  12. ↑ Comment by Steorn-CEO Sean McCarthy
  13. ↑ In August 2006 the Irish company Steorn published an advertisement in the Economist announcing the development of "a technology that produces free, clean and constant energy". Qualified experts were sought to form a "jury" to validate these claims. Twenty-two independent scientists and engineers were selected by Steorn to form this jury. It has for the past two years examined evidence presented by the company. The unanimous verdict of the Jury is that Steorn's attempts to demonstrate the claim have not shown the production of energy. The jury is therefore ceasing work. The jury consists of scientists and engineers in relevant fields from Europe and North America, from industry, universities and government laboratories. Information about individual members can be found at http://stjury.ning.com/
  14. ↑ Steorn search in patent database
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