Researchers at MIT have designed propellers in a new shape that makes them much quieter and more efficient. Dubbed “toroidal propellers”, this new, twisted-doughnut-shape eliminates the high-pitched noise associated with drones without adding weight or increasing power consumption. Propeller designs haven’t changed much since the Wright Brothers first took to the skies in 1903, so let’s look at what makes this new development so special. The first version of the propeller arguably dates back to 200 BC when Archimedes created the water screw. Countless inventors over the centuries, including Leonardo DaVinci, have worked on propeller designs. However, despite their impressive advancements in materials, blade shapes, and efficiency, the basic design of the propeller has more or less remained the same. The toroidal propeller, one of the Lab's @RD100Awards winners, has a unique, closed-form propeller design that makes it a significantly quieter alternative to common multirotor propellers on commercial uncrewed aerial vehicles. https://t.co/hgda3NgYIz pic.twitter.com/5XkIxNVPHd— Lincoln Laboratory (@MITLL) January 6, 2023 The toroidal propellers work along the exact same principle as traditional propellers, but with a closed-form blade structure where the tip of one blade curves back into the other. As stated by the researchers at MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory, this design “minimizes the drag effects of swirling air tunnels created at the tips of blades and strengthens the overall stiffness of the propeller.” The comparison between conventional propellers used on DJI’s quadrotors (a) and the toroidal propeller (b) shows the significant reduction of discernible noise achieved by the toroidal propeller. | Credit: MIT...
Published By: CineD - Thursday, 2 February, 2023