Squids propel themselves by taking water in, and squirting it out through a siphon. A University of Colorado at Boulder researcher was inspired by the squid’s motility method and designed a compact vortex generators that could make it easier to maneuver and dock underwater vehicles at low speeds and with greater precision.

"Reliable docking mechanisms are essential for the operation of underwater vehicles, especially in harsh environments," said Kamran Mohseni, an assistant professor of aerospace engineering sciences. "We set out to resolve the trade off that many researchers settle for, which is a faster, but less precise, vehicle or a boxier one that is not as fast and more difficult to transport to work locations."

Manned and unmanned underwater vehicles enable scientific researchers to explore ecosystems around the globe. However, while the torpedo shape of some underwater vehicles ensures rapid deployment and high cruising speeds with minimal energy, their hydrodynamic design makes them more difficult to maneuver or dock at low speeds and in tight spaces, or to hover in precise locations.

Mohseni created his new generators after studying the formation of vortex rings, much like those formed by squid and jellyfish to move themselves underwater. Vortex rings are formed when a burst of fluid shoots out of an opening, moving in one direction and spreading out as it curls back.

The researcher's nature-inspired vortex generators could be used in a wide array of applications. One of them, a seeming take-off of technology featured in the sci-fi cult classics, employs tiny capsules that could travel through the human digestive tract to diagnose and treat diseases and disperse medications.