Development of Boat Model Powered by Electro-Hydrodynamic Propulsion System

This paper demonstrates the development of an ion-wind powered boat (iBoat) that offers a simple propellerless design, trivial noise, and relatively low energy consumption. The apparatus of the iBoat includes a conducting wire working as the ion emitter and the water surface as the ground electrode, eliminating the need to carry a counter electrode essential in conventional ion wind generation. A miniaturized version of the iBoat and an electro-hydrodynamic propulsion system that can generate a thrust-to-power ratio up to 1.45 mN/W using a novel wire-dielectric-water configuration. Numerical simulations will also be formulated to shed light on the physical principles underlying our novel concept.