Slashdot Mirror
Boat Moves Without an Engine Or Sails
coondoggie writes "Researchers say technology they have developed would let boats or small aquatic robots glide through the water without the need for an engine, sails or paddles.
A University of Pittsburgh research team has designed a propulsion system that uses the natural surface tension that is present on the water's surface and an electric pulse to move the boat or robot, researchers said. The Pitt system has no moving parts and the low-energy electrode that emits the pulse could be powered by batteries, radio waves, or solar power, researchers said in a statement."
*eom*
Dedicated Cthulhu Cultist since 4523 BC.
If they ever make that feasible for passenger boats then the passsengers better bring the Dramamine.
Sure, MHD drives that I know of are slow and run on superconductors, but that was back in the early 90's, they should be able to gin up something better by now.
Can this really work outside of a lab, where the water surface isn't like glass ?
Wanna fight ? Bend over, stick your head up your ass, and fight for air.
The low-energy electrode that emits the pulse could be powered by batteries, radio waves, or solar power, researchers said in a statement."
Caveat: said boat must be 8 inches long or less.
The New Scientist article on this topic is more informative. Among other things, it's got a video of the test mini-robot boat in action.
The water in the testing tank is very still -- there are few or no ripples. I wonder if the approach will actually work on, say, the ocean? If your propulsion system depends on steady contact with the water surface, waves are going to be a problem.
I built a boat like this when i was in grade 3.
http://pbskids.org/zoom/activities/phenom/soappoweredboat.html
Mother Nature called, she wants her gliding through the water patent back. Otherwise, it's neat. Innovation, even if it's copied from the nature, is welcome, especially in the years we have ahead of us. Just don't let it be another hoax.
We made boats that moved by weakening the surface tension back in primary school.
Stick a piece of soap on the stern of a paper "boat", and it is propelled forward.
However, I can't see how the surface tension would be strong enough to drive a full sized boat at any speed. At best you're talking about a few millimetres elevation difference between the bow and stern, if the water is very salty and there's absolutely no wind or currents causing waves.
The challenge is going to be scaling the technology from a "2cm" boat to something useful.
It is fairly obvious how a bug moves about on the surface of still water, but the article says boats or small aquatic objects. A boat requires a lot of power to move against waves, wind and ocean currents.
Am I alone in imagining water surface tension is never going to be enough to overcome the resistances to the forces found on our oceans?
I few years back a Japanese boat was tested using a magnetic drive. It used the fact water moves in one direction in a magnetic field, air does the same thing and you can even make a fan with no moving parts that way. The problem was it only was able to hit a couple of miles an hours inspite of the massive magnetic field. There was even talk before that of high speed boats using the technique. It's more of a science curiosity than a practical means of propulsion.
For all you harsh nay-sayers, the article is pretty clear that the tech's not for boats, but for small drones, robots and other things where fuel payload and moving parts are drawbacks.
This is the worst poem I've ever read.
commonly known as 'drifting'
How effective is it at killing Manatees, hobo's of the sea?
I refuse to use any sort of boat that doesn't maim or injure an endangered species. That's just the kind of forward thinking person I am.
So, at 14.4 meters/h, this is only useful for bodies of still water.
Looking forward to improvements in speed, 'cause I think ocean currents move faster than that.
In this case, it should be "does it run in Linux". (The answer is no. The surface tension is too low. The kernel mailing list tension, on the other hand, would be perfect.)
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
Boat Moves Without an Engine Or Sails
the vikings fixed this problem long ago.
Those of us who think they know everything annoy those of us who do.
What are the advantages of this over using an engine or sail? Would it be friendlier to the environment, faster, or efficient?
Whatever the practical application, this is cool!
It's a brilliant way to ship your toothpicks overseas one at a time.
VLC FOR MAC IS DYING! IF YOU DEVELOP, PLEASE SAVE IT!!
MHD consisted of the manipulation of a magnetic slurry inside a flexible structure (usually a tube), which in turn mechanically pushed water to the rear, thus achieving thrust.
Picture a large, straight colon, shoving diarrhea rearward via peristalsis: this was the basis of the MHD drive. It had nothing to do with surface tension, nor did it manipulate water directly via magnets or any other means.
The tinfoil hat wearing members of PETA won't stand for such sea kitten torture and distress!
-tyfighter
Did anyone else find the copper sheet at the bottom of the water odd? Is that necessary to the device's operation? Would you always have to have a static component for something like this to work?
Also, the "boat" didn't seem to have a power source, the electrodes appeared to be attached only to each other.
The article seems rather bereft of information other than comparing the electrodes to a beetle larva. Does anyone understand how this device works? Outside of vague notions of something to do with surface tension that is.
There, calls the Mariner,
./?
...
there comes a ship over the line
But how can she sail with no wind
in her sails and no tide.
(Based on "The rime of the ancient mariner" [1797 - 1798] by Samuel Taylor Coleridge )
Any other Iron Maiden fans out there in
hello?