Engineers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation (FIMEA) have designed an engine that’s modeled after the way an octopus moves.
When frightened an octopus escapes a situation by ingesting seawater then jetting it out of its body in high-powered stream. Not only does this stream propel the octopus away from predators its can also be directed to steer the octopus in any direction it wishes.
To duplicate the octopus’ propulsion system Fraunhofer engineers 3D printed a four chamber design that can mimic the creature’s water jet propulsion system. In recent tests the flexible plastic design can jettison water to move the design in any desired direction and engineers are looking to scale their prototype up for more advanced applications.
Who knows, one day you might be cruising on a yacht or submarine propelled by octopus engines.
Images Courtesy of Phys.org
