EPAR - the next big discovery

Energy Accumulating and Dissipating Converter

Big discoveries do not happen very often and in modern world are very rarely a work of a single person. However, EPAR (abbreviation from Polish name) or Energy Accumulating and Dissipating Converter is a work of a self-taught Polish inventor Lucjan Łągiewka. EPAR is a device that absorbs kinetic energy, quickly converts it and slowly scatters. The potential of the device is clearly shown of the movie from the EPAR presentation.

Lucjan Łagiewka

Lucjan Łągiewka. Picture taken from the EPAR project website

Lucjan Łągiewka, the inventor and constructor of the EPAR device, was born in 1949 and for more than 40 years is an active inventor and experimentalist. The idea for the device came from dynamics of fluids. The first presentations of the device, then in a form of a specially constructed bumper installed on a small FIAT car, were done in the late 90s. At that time Łągiewka filed also a patent application, which was unfortunately rejected because of the formal issues. Over the last decade Łągiewka was awarded with many international prizes for his inventions and he reached a wide recognition for his invention in a inventors communities. Today he leads together with his son the EPAR project development company. A large focus of the company is to implement EPAR idea into a safety elements of the infrastructure e.g. road barriers. Łągiewka did not get  the attention of academic communities with the exception of his long-term collaborator Prof. Stanisław Gumuła from AGH University of Science and Technology in Kraków, Poland. Łągiewka together with Gumuła claim that the EPAR device works against Newton laws.

Łągiewka vs. Newton and Smith

Lucjan Łągiewka did not earn any patents that he applied for in the late 90s. However, he noticed that Oxford University professor Malcolm Smith later constructed a device that works based on the same principles. Prof. Smith successfully patented in the US a device that has been later used in Formula 1 races as a J-Damper. J-Damper was suppose to extinguish the suspension vibrations and effectively gave the Formula 1 bollid better traction which resulted in approximately 0.5 s advantage per lap. J-Damper was used first by Kimi Räikkönen and gave him almost 30 seconds advantage in the whole race.

General idea behind the EPAR project. Energy is absorbed, converted and slowly scattered.

Picture taken from the presentation of the EPAR on www.epar.pl

As unfortunate as it sounds, self-taught Łągiewka is in a constant battle with scientists. First with Newton, claiming that his device works agains Newtons laws. Now in a battle agains Prof. Malcolm Smith from Oxford for recognition of Łągiewkas contribution into the invention of the idea/device. These complains are now investigated by the European Patent Office. Battle with Newton and the recognition in academia may be more difficult that the one in EPO.

Car test done with and without the EPAR device. Left picture shows a small car FIAT 126p 

after it hit a wall at the speed 50 km/h with the EPAR device installed on the bumper. 

Right picture shows the same model after the impact at the speed 40 km/h without the EPAR device. 

Picture taken from the official presentation of the EPAR project.