Hark! another axial piston engine from down under & surroundings (well, that's my mid-european view, hope nobody will be offended), after AGM Mitchell's crankless engine from about 1920. As hydraulic pumps and motors run well using the swash plate principle, why not an IC engine? Fuel efficiency will not be its main merit, as friction losses will be higher, but vibrations should be lower and in a less obtrusive direction, I think.

Duke Engines, please do not disappear. Do not let your company be bought up by a large manufacturer who will then dump all the work you have done, and only resurrect it once the so last century combustion engine in use today is finally deemed not fit for purpose by those in power. The rest of us all know that day passed some time ago, and that Tech like yours is more than overdue. best of luck with your endeavours, but beware.

I dunno. Seems like a overcomplicated Wankel engine to me.

Judging by the illustration, both the big and little ends look vulnerable to wear, so it would be nice to know if there has been any endurance testing of this design. Running continuously at max power (with breaks for necessary servicing) will be essential if there is going to be confidence in using it for aeronautics.
I wonder if it will run backwards. Such a facility would be handy for slowing small light aircraft on landing, especially 'tail draggers' and boat planes, not to mention many boat applications.
Overall, it looks like a very innovative design.

fantastic news! At least for me as I did not hear about DUKE before... I was hoping that Wankel engine will success but it looks like it is too problematic. I would love to see some true revolution in motor business.

Being a kiwi myself I really hope this comes off.

I think that is way cool. I hope it does not go by the wayside due to lack of funding. Perhaps a kickstarter type fund raiser might help?
I wonder if it would work in a small car like the Fiat 500, Smart Fortwo or other similar sized vehicles? It would be neat to tell someone that ones small car has a 5 cyclinder engine in it.

I hope they've done their homework on patent searches to be sure they don't violate existing patents. This cylindrical arrangement is the same used by the CEM design from Eddie Paul Industries, except that instead of the "tilted star" idea, EPI used a sine wave shaped plate to act as a cam, with cam rollers mounted on the piston rods and the rods moving linearly. EPI used the exact same valve-less head design, tho, if I recall, and had the advantage of having pistons/cylinders on both ends of the rods, doubling the engine's capacity within not much more space & weight. Link: http://www.epindustries.com/cemco.html
I also recall a company developing aircraft engine years ago that used the same layout, except that the cylinders & pistons were stationary while the central drive-shaft and sine-wave-cam rotated. They dropped off the scene almost as quickly as they appeared, tho... don't know what happened to them - seemed like a great idea. The fixed cylinder block design had to utilize traditional valving, tho. Still, it was compact enough for aviation applications, it seemed.

Swashplate type engines in numerous configurations have been about from steam engine days, and despite many potential advantages, have never lasted very long.
The aviation industry in particular produced numerous, such as the Almen engine, as the configuration, giving as it does a very low frontal area, appeared suitable for the purpose.
Lets hope this one does better, but history is against it.
Somewhat off topic, back in the 1970s Honda produced the Juno 175cc scooter using a variable transmission comprising a concentric swashplate hydraulic pump/motor unit with the "swash" of one component (I can't remember which) being controlled by a left hand twistgrip to alter the gear ratio. It was beautifully engineered but sadly failed dismally.