Steorn's first discovery was dead simple. You gained more energy from one or more magnets on a rotor (optimized when the rotor magnets were in a ramp configuration) pulling that rotor towards a stator than the energy it took to pull the stator away. Kinetron the micro-kinetic company absolutely beyond any doubt confirmed this discovery along with a number of other third parties. Another now defunct company named, "Kedron" made the same discovery, possibly before Steorn.
You can check out a PPT about Kedron's data at the following link. There is additional information that is still online.
http://www.freeenergynews.com/…n/Kedron_EDEN_Project.ppt
The problem was converting the extra "torque" energy into extra linear energy to pull/move the stator. Due to the high radial pressures on the bearings (which increased friction dramatically) and the losses incurred by complex designs to harness this extra energy, Steorn moved on from there. They shouldn't have. If they had stuck with that basic concept they could have came up with a viable working product a LONG time ago. Instead, they decided to collect IP as their primary objective. For example, they came up with the LEMA (Low Energy Magnetic Actuator) to shield a stator magnet instead of mechanically pulling it away.