All current Formula 1 engines use small cylinders containing pistons working against pressurised nitrogen, as springs, instead of metal valve springs. However there is still a camshaft to operate the valves - only the springs have been removed. Renault - who were first to introduce the gas cylinders into Formula 1 - tried to develop a workable electromagnetic actuator that would work along with the gas cylinders to eliminate the conventional valve train entirely, but have been unable to make it work to a usable level (especially at the speeds required for Formula 1), so far. The Cargine system shown in Deejay's video is an attempt by a small start-up firm to do something similar to this, but you will notice that the video does not even confirm that the system is electromagnetic (though the fact that it is driven by an audio oscillator, and there are no hydraulic connections, seems to provide a strong hint of this). Cargine appears to be highly secretive about the specifics of their technology at this stage. Essentially, the electromagnetic systems use valve actuators rather similar to the voicecoil of a loudspeaker. The actuators are driven by an audio amplifier using signal timing generated by the engine control computer. One of the main challenges appears to be producing enough output power from each voicecoil/actuator while keeping the componentry compact and light.
The Pivotal piston concept does not eliminate pistons, it just pivots them on one side instead of having them slide in a cylinder, thus making the engine difficult to manufacture and the piston difficult to seal, without seeming to offer any meaningful advantages. However, time will tell.
Last edited by grumpy; 28/02/13 01:30 AM. Reason: Add detail
