This is pretty cool.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bch5B23_pu0

I saw something about electronic actuated valves years ago in one of the "Popular" tech magazines. I guess the technology wasn't ready back then.

Very exciting. I heard somewhere that just the parasitic loss from running a conventional valve train was like 25% of total engine output.

Didn't watch it because of slow data but 2 - strokes have been around so long that one might have even come over on the Ark.

Tucker try it 60 plus years ago in the Tucker car .Then International had some test engines running using hydraulic cyls to open the vales much like their power stroke fuel injectors. But now with a computer setting or changing the valve timing and duration like shown in this clip, there could be some real benefit to it .
DW

Was talking to my dad who said that Caterpillar has been using camless diesels for a while. Initially I thought it was going to be solenoid actuated, or stepper motors or something, but neither of those has the reliability or longevity to play such an important role. The hydraulic/pneumatic actuation though does. Combine that with crankshaft position sensors and ECU, and we could potentially eliminate another heavy, critical component of the engine.

We'll never see it in a certified aircraft engine, but automotive technology will hopefully adopt it.

A year or so ago, there was a gentleman near Colorado Springs doing electric valve actuaction in diesel Rabbits and an IHC truck.

Cam losses are fairly low in a lot of cases...sometimes less than a percent for large stationary or marine units, and less than 10% for small, fast running Ottos. There might be an advantage with reliability for some applications, but the SWAP (Size, Weight, and Power) trades for aerospace might not work out. The hydraulic units I saw in a stationary unit demonstration were pretty massive, and the electric ones (BMW demonstrator) seemed to have reliability issues if I recall. But- these might simply be problems to be solved.