Research project: Fast escape underwater vehicle inspired by the octopus jetting

Cephalopods such as the octopus and squid are by far the fastest marine invertebrates, achieving incredible bursts of speed using extremely simple jetting propulsion.

In this project, we constructed and tested an octopus-inspired rocket that powers an ultra-fast, jet-propelled escape. The body of the vehicle has no moving parts, being constructed of a 3D printed frame and a stretched elastic membrane. The resulting vehicle entirely eliminates flow separation drag forces and clever use of added mass forces by first hyper-inflating and then rapidly deflating, reaching top speeds of 15 body lengths per second.