New Type of Thruster?

[leevonk]

Hi everyone,

I was recently fiddling around trying to create a minimalist ROV that would be cheap, easy to build, and avoid needing to water-proof actuators. I tried several things and ended up with a surprising result that, as far as I know, could be a novel method for micro ROV propulsion.

Basically it involves a fully enclosed, vibrating actuator inside of an asymmetrical hull. The vibrations create standing vortices all around the hull's surface and the vehicle is propelled forward. Here is a link to a more detailed description--->
http://www.instructables.com/id/Vortex- ... OV-ROVVor/

the propulsion method works when the ROV is on the surface or fully submerged. If you skip directly to the video at the link above read the description of what you are seeing and why. I only have one contact in the ROV field and he was very interested in the result, so I figured I would see what others in the ROV community think.

I realize that previous bio-inspired ROVs have used flapping fins to create vortices, but the method described here creates standing vortices. Not that big a distinction but it might have some advantages in some niche markets (ones that require minimal actuator movement profiles, or that require total segregation of actuators from the outside environment), or it might just be an interesting curiosity without much applicability. Let me know what you think, thanks in advance for your input!

p.s. yes, that is a bendy straw taped to the side, it is actually key in making it work

[ltdcruze]

Cool idea. Saw this on Hackaday a few days ago.