WEAV for surveillance
An associate professor from the University of Florida has developed a ‘wingless electromagnetic air vehicle’ (WEAV), a small, circular spinning aircraft reminiscent of the spaceships seen in films.
The prototype proposed by Subrata Roy, is less than six inches in diameter, and efficient enough to be powered by on-board batteries along with magnetohydrodynamics, or the force created when a current or a magnetic field is passed through a conducting fluid. In the case of the WEAV aircraft, the conducting fluid will be created by electrodes that cover each of the vehicle’s surfaces and ionise the surrounding air into plasma.
The force created by passing an electrical current through this plasma pushes around the surrounding air, and that swirling air creates lift and momentum and provides stability against wind gusts. In order to maximise the area of contact between air and vehicle, the WEAV design is partially hollow and continuously curved.
The WEAV has no moving parts, such as propellers or jet engines, and so is expected to be more reliable. This design also allows the WEAV to hover and take off vertically.
The most obvious functions would be surveillance and navigation. The aircraft could be designed to carry a camera and light and be controlled remotely at great distances.
Roy has big plans for the WEAV, he hopes the vehicle will one day soar through atmospheres other than Earth’s own, and claims aircraft would be an ideal vehicle for the exploration of Titan, Saturn’s sixth moon, which has high air density and low gravity.
Read more on: Aerospace, aircraft, Design, electrodes, Electronics
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