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Blimp Swims Through Air Like A Fish
A blimp that swims through the air like a fish has been created by Swiss researchers. The fish-like airship uses artificial muscles made from electroactive polymers (EAPs) to propel itself forward.
(Diagram of Electroactive-polymer artificial muscle 'trout' blimp)
Empa researcher Silvain Michel and his team have patented this unique silent non-rigid airship; it uses its artificial muscles to power through the air like a trout swimming in a brook. It uses the same "bending-rotation-stroke" used by fish in the water - bending its body in one direction and its tail in the other.
According to Dr. Michel:
“This technique can be transferred directly from water to air. A blimp moving through the air is, in terms of the physics involved, exactly the same as a fish moving through water. In both cases a body is moving through a fluid and is subject to the same laws of fluid dynamics.”
(EAP airship moves through air like a fish through water
[ETH Zurich simulation])
The fish-like blimp uses EAPs developed by Empa. EAPs are elastic polymer films which, when subjected to an electrical voltage, become thinner and expand in area. If properly employed, this deformation can propel the airship forward. And, because EAPs convert electrical energy directly into work without the need to use electric motors and gear systems, EAPs provide efficiencies of up to seventy percent.
(Electroactive-polymer muscles move this blimp)
The electroactive-polymer sheets merge into the airship hull at four points. When activated by electrical energy, they expand, causing the hull to execute the "bending-rotation-stroke" like a fish in water.
Researchers point to a number of possible applications (it needs to have applications?)
- As relay stations to provide line-of-sight signal transmission
- Communications platforms
- Silently observe animals in their natural habitat
Udpate 27-Mar-2007:See additional suggestions for how flying sea creatures might look based on other books and movies in the Electroactive Polymer blimp comments. (End update.)
See also these airships with an sf theme:
- A-170 Video Lightsign Airship Brings Bladerunner Blimp To Sky Near You
- Dynalifter Prototype Ready For Flight
- DARPA's Walrus and Griffith's War-Balloons
From NewScientist via Velcro City Tourist Board. See also this cleverly googled pdf - Airships that swim through the atmosphere.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 3/24/2007)
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