As it turns out, ships that ply our oceans for both commercial and leisure purposes have created quite a ding for the creatures living in the ocean and causing unnecessary stress to them. One of the solutions to alleviate underwater noise pollution is to go with high-tech sails but Jay Bowles of YouTube channel Plasma Channel had another idea that’s very sci-fi-ish.
Having designed and built the next-gen ion thruster, he thought why not adapt the ion thruster to power seafaring vehicles too? Together with Daniel of rctestflight, he designed an RC boat, or more correctly, a catamaran, to be powered by a pair of ion thrusters.
The result is a twin ion engine (TIE) catamaran that actually works. OK. May be not perfect but it does serve as proof of concept. Jay’s TIE Catamaran may not break any sea speed record but it is dead silent which is the ultimate goal of the project.
However, it is not without kinks. Plasma Channel’s ion thruster is susceptible to humidity. High humidity makes the ion thruster crackles and it is not a pleasant sound. But it is a start. Go ahead and check out the build video and see for yourself what could be a future for boats.
Images: YouTube (Plasma Channel).
