87571Magneto PoppetsClosedCollaborative R&DInnovate UKSome supercars like the _Koenigsegg Gemera_ exploit controlled valve actuation systems to enable the engine to open its valves at different times during the engine cycle (or not at all) depending on the running condition. In effect, the _Magneto-Poppets_ project aims to achieve what the Koenigsegg cars achieve -- at about one hundredth of the cost and with significantly lower losses. In the (non-electric) car industry, the term _variable valve timing_ (VVT) describes what internal combustion engine (ICE) manufacturers desperately want to achieve -- the capability to open and close poppet valves at different points in the engine cycle depending on the running condition at the time. The _Magneto-Poppets_ project will develop and prove a new approach to the control of poppet valves - valves that open and close at very high rates to control the flows of gases. The most common present-day use for poppet valves is in ICEs where these valves can often be opening and closing over 50 times within a second - or more. There are other applications. The main motivating application here is a class of machines for performing energy storage. Compressed air energy storage (CAES) and pumped thermal energy storage (PTES) systems both rely on efficient compression and expansion of gas and ex-service truck engines to provide an extremely low-cost base from which to develop these. ICEs compress and expand gas in the same device so it is not surprising that the same basic valve action should be relevant in compressors, expanders and engines. What poppet valves must do is simple to describe - but rather more difficult to engineer. These valves must toggle between the "open" and "closed" states. Invariably, the valve holds position for a while in one state before transiting to the other. Shorter transits are always preferable for good machine performance. The vast majority of all poppet valves are opened by cams (non-circular shapes fixed onto shafts) and closed again by stiff return springs. Cam action causes very substantial losses in friction. Despite this, most production car engines with any VVT capability still use cams. In theory, there are numerous possible alternatives to cam-driven poppet valves. However matching the performance of cams is very difficult because the accelerations are so high. One valve might have to transit a 5mm distance in <1 milli-second (one thousandth of a second). The peak acceleration required for this is \>2,000g. No direct electrical actuation comes close to achieving this. The solution developed by Cheesecake Energy Ltd (CEL) emerges from looking at the problem a different way around. Instead of wondering how we can possibly accelerate the valve mass at such high rates, CEL instead considered how we can "grab" the valve mass at one extreme of motion prior to releasing it again at a controllable time. Between release on one side and catch on the other side, the valve is in free flight -- accelerated and then decelerated by a simple spring. CEL's magnetic latch design handles the rest.