Reverse engineering isn't always possible ( it's a lossy transformation to
use information theory jargon ).
I doubt Rossi's secret is subtle, but it may well be.
I've worked at several companies whose manufacturing processes and material
selection and processing would be impossible to ascertain from the finished
product -- one sees that often e.g. in Chinese knock off products that seem
identical to the originals, but just don't work well or last long.
Some examples I'm familiar with:
My first example was a company that made data acquition systems to resolve
microvolts with 400 volt AC common mode noise superimposed. A mentor ( Don
Murphy ) was as much an artist as engineer.
The off the shelf transistors were carefully heated with a soldering
iron to cause a bit more dopants to diffuse into the silicon.
The printed circuit board material was carefully selected to have low
leakage, low dielectric non-linearities, low thermal coefficients.
The semiconductors were carefully sealed to prevent photons from
entering and for thermal matching.
The wire insulation was very special, and wire runs were very accurately
placed and matched
( even the smallest difference in capacitance was not tolerated ).
The isolation transformers were wound in critical ways and the magnetic
materials carefully selected and annealed.
The testing and calibration required special skills.
#2: Disk drive heads -- special materials and geometry so they won't crash
when flying microinches above a surface.
#3: Funny little mechanical parts, maybe of strange alloys that don't seem
to have any function, but are really critical
e.g. thermal compensation. Try leaving something out and see what
happens -- I've done it.
#4: (From GE Syracuse NY, second hand info) They set up a new semiconductor
FAB to replace the old one. The new semiconductors wouldn't work even
though the process was identical. It turned out that the light switches in
the old fab released a tiny bit of copper vapor into the air when switched--
the new FAB was too clean!
Sometimes the manufacturer doesn't even know how something works but it
does -- perhaps a dab of Skippy peanut butter in the electrolyte, or having
some holy water applied does the trick ( :-) )
Hoyt Stearns
Scottsdale, Arizona US
-----Original Message-----
From: Jed Rothwell [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Tuesday, June 07, 2011 5:14 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Vo]:New PESN link: Patent Office Forces E-Cat Self-Destruct
Capability
Terry Blanton <[email protected]> wrote:
AR is not familiar with industrial espionage. Once his product goes
into production and ships outside his realm of control, it WILL wind
up in the hands of, not only the Chinese, but the oil cartels and the
rest of the world.
This is silly.
It is silly, or it is a misunderstanding.
A trade secret would be a form of "security by obscurity." With modern
instruments and a device of this importance, a trade secret will not last
one month. I assume Rossi intends to protect his intellectual property with
patents. [Hoyt A. Stearns Jr.] ...
