The best known and so far the most technically elaborated version of RICE is Wankel engine, which is commercialized by Mazda on its RX series of sports cars.

All RICEs consist of two major blocks: the rotating block called rotor and the static block termed stator that houses the rotor. Thus, with respect to its architecture RICE quite resembles electric motor.

Shuba engine is based on the revolutionary, patented concept that consists in placing two combustion chambers within the rotating rotor on its diagonally opposed ends. These combustion chambers contain spark plugs and can be opened or closed from two sides by means of side lids in order to accommodate compressed air-fuel mixture or to release combusted gasses. Timely opening and closing of the side lids during rotor rotation is warranted by their coupling to the annular guiding groves within the stator cover plates. Combustion chambers rotate with the rotor, and the spark plugs are ignited by high voltage timely connected to them using the commutator-brushes mechanism similar to that of the electric motors.

It is up to the internal combustion engine professionals to give Shuba engine objective technical evaluation. Even better would be making its working model and testing it.

However, even without that one can note the following obvious advantages:

1) No valves and bulky mechanism for their operation are necessary;
2) Providing full power stroke every 180º;
3) Coinciding in phase of one full, 180º power stroke with 3 other, passive strokes, which ensures smooth rotation of the engine as a single unit with no necessity for assembling several units in series;
4) No eccentricity of any kind like in Wankel engine, not to say about reciprocating one, which eliminates any vibrations;
5) Constant application of the force of the combusted gasses to the one-arm lever formed by the biggest radius of the rotor (in the event of splitting one 180º power stroke onto two 90º power sub-strokes) providing for maximal torque independent of the rotation angle (in Wankel engine the force is applied to the two-arm lever, and the resultant torque is determined by arms difference, which in turn depends on rotor’s position);
6) The timing of engagement of each engine’s part is determined by engine’s intrinsic structure, therefore, no adjustments of any kind will be ever necessary.

As every new thing, the present concept of RICE is under constant development. Therefore, the design presented in this site is by far not final. For instance, there is the solution how to avoid dividing of the combustion chambers onto two subchambers without compromising the engine's torque. Also, a simple mechanism providing tight contouring of the rotor by space separators without using engagement springs (which cause friction between separators and rotor) can be proposed. So, there is huge room for creativity.

The demonstration in this site does not address any technological aspects or the issues of engine’s cooling and lubricating. It only provides the basics of its architecture and function.

So, go on and see it all for yourself ...