Systems and methods of compression ignition engines

An internal combustion engine comprising:

• a cylinder;
• a first piston located within said cylinder, said first piston including a protuberance and being configured to move between a top-dead-center (“TDC”) and a bottom-dead-center (“BDC”) configuration, thereby defining a stroke of the first piston;
• a cylinder head enclosing said first piston within said cylinder, said cylinder head including a recess associated with said protuberance;
• an insert at least partially embedded in a first component;
• wherein said cylinder, cylinder head, and recess define a combustion chamber having a primary chamber and a secondary chamber;
• wherein the engine is configured to facilitate a dual-ignition combustion process, a first ignition process occurring in the primary chamber and a second ignition process occurring in the secondary chamber as the first piston is moving away from TDC,
• wherein the first component is one of the first piston, the head, and the second piston,
• wherein the first component is formed from a first material,
• wherein the insert is formed from a second material having heat transfer properties that are different from heat transfer properties of the first material, and
• wherein the insert is positioned and configured so as to be in thermal communication with the primary chamber.

An internal combustion engine comprising:

• a cylinder;
• a first piston located within said cylinder, said first piston including a protuberance and being configured to move between a top-dead-center (“TDC”) and a bottom-dead-center (“BDC”) configuration, thereby defining a stroke of the first piston;
• a cylinder head enclosing said first piston within said cylinder, said cylinder head including a recess associated with said protuberance;
• and
• a second piston,
• wherein said cylinder, cylinder head, and recess define a combustion chamber having a primary chamber and a secondary chamber,
• wherein the primary chamber defines a first volume when the first piston is at TDC,
• wherein the second piston is a variable compression ratio piston associated with the primary chamber, and
• wherein the second piston is moveable between a first position and a second position, the first and second positions of the second piston being associated with maximum and minimum values of the first volume, respectively,
• the engine further comprising:
• a linkage assembly for moving the second piston between its first and second positions, thereby adjusting compression ratios associated with the primary chamber;
• and
• a control system having first and second sensors associated with respective first and second features of the second piston such that the first and second sensors are aligned with respective first and second features when the second piston is in respective first and second positions.