propulsion like a squid...???

No action picture available, but after seing them many times under water while diving, they are waving the membrane surrounding their body, depending on the side they want to go to. It works like oars, each side of the body.

Squid propulsion

Check out the Hobie kayak.
Pedal powered with fins below that sweep port to stbd.
The fins flip over as they reverse direction.
They are very fast but after awhile most people run out of gas and are no faster than a traditional paddle kayak.

Good idea for a quiet sub.

Carl

Carl,
Do you have anything like this in the Skunk Works?
Arnie

.....

The Hunt For Red October!

OHMIGAWD, don't tell me that xamdawson7 used the despicable 'squid-in-a-bikini' avatar! EEwwww.

Well look at that, your 10,000th post!! If this was not your day job I would be a little concerned.

Can't believe you guys have put up with me for this long!

I'll take credit for a dozen reasonably informative posts... mostly on how to get slapped by women for saying the wrong thing... but a good majority of my posts are news, reviews and a stealth forum where I rip on builders that some people hold in false esteem.

In addition to the 10,000 posts I’ve slipped-in under the YachtForums screen name, I have an additional 1446 posts under the YachtForum (singular) screen name. Not to mention the other 3 alias names I used to carry on conversations with myself in the early YF years. Yep, I was talking to myself. A sure sign of senility! But... I drew a few lurkers in. Maybe one of you guys reading this right now.

The materials development required for "squid like" propulsion is advancing but not there yet as far as I know. Materials that have one shape under stress and then revert to another shape when the stress is relieved show some promise. Other materials that change shape when in a charged or discharged state also offer promise. The range of motion and the variances in the progressive forms involved in a single fish tail might give you some idea of what's actually needed to make this work. The potential advances in things that at first glance are as simple as the impeller for a water jet or variable vane turbocharger, that will take place when the materials and their control is achieved, are good for many a late night "what if" session.

At one time, I spent some time on materials. Here's an exert from a previous discussion in the "Jet Drive vs. Prop" thread...

1987 sounds a little early for conjugated polymers. Predecessor or different track altogether?

Like the microchip, the laser and certain metals, some technologies have origins that predate the state of the art.

Fascinating subject, materials development. Sometimes difficult to keep up with what can be discussed publicly without getting too specific and at what point a mild slap is heading your way.

.....and getting some builders to acknowledge that it has actually taken place at all........

There are a few builders that have, umm, err, relationships with their navies. Unless the materials are proprietary it doesn't make sense that they'd not seek to utilise those advances in other divisions.
On the other hand, despite the advantages of pod drives as demonstrated on Air/ICE, there do not seem to be many embracing that option.
Unless there were issues with the pod drives that have been kept under wraps it makes no sense to me that they were not used in a vessel like A, which sure as god made little green apples, isn't the most conservative recent build.

Yes I do, this looked at cuttlefish drives for ROV's

There is another paper with drawings I've seen again for ROv's

Here is one version
http://www.createthefuturecontest.com/pages/view/entriesdetail.html?entryID=1325

Squid propulsion

These would seem a workable option for a submersed vehicle, but for any surface vessel the roll forces may make them unviable as they would have to be very rigid, or retractable.

I know some builders of submersibles through work and there is some very interesting work being done on propulsion systems.

Squid

This thread gave me an idea.
Imagine that the entire external wetted surface of a craft is covered with fish scale like skin.
Every single scale is controlled individually like a pixel on a TV screen.
The scales could be nano size and only affect the boundary layer of water.

Shark skin coatings are used now to reduce drag. Just make the coating dynamic.

Carl