Charan (Jim) Nelms first started toying with the idea of creating the FBS concept in the summer of 2011 whilst working on a zero displacement mechanism for shock absorbers. The initial FBS concept demonstrated in principle that such a system could possibly work but had a number of drawbacks for being used in real-time applications in the automotive sector, and over a period these drawbacks were resolved, and Charan initially filed for patents for a number of products derived from the Zero Displacement concept back in 2011 but these were rejected and never published by the patents office due to the fact that the patent attorney employed at the time had not paid the application fees, which Charan had already paid upon engaging the attorney.
Due to a lack of funds, the project was halted; eventually, funds were secured privately, and work started earnestly on draughting a new patent purely for the FBS with kinetic energy recovery (KER) with anti-lock braking system (ABS) in January 2020 and was eventually filed around August 2020, and later this initial application was withdrawn, and simultaneously, three new applications were filed for an FBS, KER from the FBS and ABS as an integral function of the FBS in late 2020.
The current position is that all three patents have been granted by the European Patents Office for a number of countries within the EU listed on the Grant Certificate and Turkey, and we are waiting to hear back from a number of countries listed for the granting of the national phases:
USA, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, Morocco, China and India.
So far Charan has funded the project himself and is the sole owner and inventor of the FBS, and the intellectual properties are unencumbered (indebted) to any third party and ready to be assigned to Polestar IPS FZCO once Charan is satisfied with the company structure and will make it fully transparent and operational, and thereafter ready to accept investment funds for shares to be sold.
The aim of the company is to provide frictionless braking solutions for the automotive and mass transport sectors, offering advantages such as a healthier environment, kinetic energy recovery, reduced global warming, lower carbon footprint, and cost-effective designs over existing friction braking systems. The company will provide designs to the automotive Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and Tier 1 companies with a range of the most advanced braking products in the world. To achieve this, FBS technology has to deliver, through research and development, certified validation of 9 levels of development based on the guidelines written by NASA known as Technology Readiness Level.
Furthermore, a Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulation study had to be carried out by an independent professional company, and Powertrain Technology Ltd. of Shoreham-by-Sea, East Sussex, England, was engaged for this task, and a favourable report was delivered together with a letter of interest for further involvement in developing the technology, which is also very positive.
Currently others professionals that are engaged with this project are:
1. PDB Engineering Services Ltd. of Hove, East Sussex, England.
2. John Kirby of Kirby Consulting (Automotive) of Grendon, Northamptonshire, England
3. Dylan Morgan of Mathys & Squire LLC Patent Attorneys’ of The Shard, London, England
4. Decisive Zone, of Business Bay, Dubai
5. Powertrain Technology Ltd. of Shoreham-by-Sea, East Sussex, England
Proof of concept prototype:
Proof of concept has been considered and a first design concept based on a Volkswagen Beetle, 1600cc engine and the transmission from a VW Variant 411/412 has already been selected and bought and have had some work carried out, the drafting of the engineering drawings of the proposed assembly has been successfully delivered by PDB Engineering Services Ltd. ready to be sub-contracted for quotations and manufacture; other components that need sourcing are: a number of hydraulic cylinders, a hydraulic power pack 12V, switch gear, a 12V high capacity battery, a number of hydraulic accumulators, and valves and control valves and the necessary hydraulic and brake fluids. A second concept is currently being considered that may prove to be more practical and cheaper to produce to demonstrate the FBS concept and less cumbersome.
Financial Overview:
Charan has financed the whole concept since work started back in the summer of 2011;
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- Drafting of the patent drawings and the dialogue.
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- Initial filing of the patents, patent granted in the UK
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- Patent refilled as a 1. Braking System, 2. Kinetic Energy Recovery, 3. Integral Anti-Lock Braking System
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- Applications for Europe filed and now granted in 2024, selected European countries.
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- Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) route was chosen and all three applications were filed for the following countries: China, India, Brazil, Mexico, USA, Canada, Turkey, Morocco and South Africa.
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- Turkish patents granted in 2025
The above process to date has cost the sum of £2 million including all the renewal fees, Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulation, Proof of Concept hardware and drawings.