The Next Generation of Ionic Plasma Thrusters (BSI MARK 2)
发布时间 2023-03-26 14:04:46 来源
This is the BSI-2 thruster. Like its predecessor, it relies on tens of thousands of volts to create thrust using no moving parts. Unlike its predecessor, it's half the size, moves twice as much air, and is much more durable.
这是BSI-2推进器。与其前身一样，它依靠数万伏特来创造推力，而不需要使用任何运动部件。与其前身不同的是，它只有一半大小，能够移动两倍的空气，并且更加耐用。
You see, back in 2018, MIT built the world's first ionic thruster plane. So in response to their work, I recently designed what I called a next gen ionic thruster. The months of work I put into it led to a decent first prototype and a measurable amount of thrust. But it was actually quite basic. At the end of my video on the thruster, I acknowledged the design had room for improvement, but it does have some inefficiencies, I'm thinking of three in particular. Well, it had a lot of room for improvement, actually.
你看，早在2018年，麻省理工学院建造出了世界上第一架离子推进飞机。看到他们的研究，最近我设计了一种所谓的下一代离子推进器。我花了数月时间来研发它，制造出了一个不错的第一版原型，并获得了一定量的推力。但它实际上很基础。在我的推进器视频的结尾，我承认这个设计还有改进的空间，但它有一些效率问题，我特别想到了其中的三个问题。事实上，它确实有很大的改进空间。
And after a friend of mine over in Portugal built his own ionic thruster and crowned himself the Velocity King. 5 meters per second, almost six. It was time for me to step up to the plate and create the BSI mark 2. Dude, that's a huge improvement! So the video on the first BSI thruster was really well received. And since I acknowledged in the video that my design had room for improvement, it was basically an open call for you to critique my work. And I received a lot of great feedback, and a lot of feedback that would have made the design terrible.
在我在葡萄牙的朋友制造自己的离子推进器并自封为“速度之王”后，他的速度每秒达到5米，几乎是6米，我也该站出来制造BSI Mark 2了。哇，这可是一个巨大的改进！第一部BSI推进器的视频反响不错。由于我在视频中承认我的设计还有改进的空间，这基本上是一个公开的号召，让你批评我的工作。我收到了很多很好的反馈意见，也有很多反馈意见可能会让设计变得可怕。
Overall I wanted to design a thruster which was modular and capable of eventually propelling a fixed-wing airplane. It was a huge engineering challenge, so I took my time and worked on other projects in the meantime, like my plasma-filled river table. But then my friend Joel reached out, curious about the thruster. He wanted to build his own, so we chatted for a bit about operational theory, and with a smug grin on my face, I thought, well I'm sure his attempt will be cute. Fast forward a month, and it was more than cute. His thruster achieved Velocity's far greater than mine did, and it was much more compact. 5 meters per second, almost six. Almost six meters per second. I was proud of my friend. However, it called into question who I ultimately was. I mean, what was I? Was I plasma channel or plasma enough channel?
总的来说，我想设计一个模块化的推进器，最终能够推动固定翼飞机。这是一个巨大的工程挑战，所以我花了一些时间并在此期间做了其他项目，比如我的充满等离子的河流桌。但后来我的朋友Joel联系我，对这个推进器很感兴趣。他想要建立自己的，所以我们聊了一会儿操作理论。当我傲慢地微笑时，我想，他的尝试一定很可爱。一个月后，事实证明它不仅可爱还很出色。他的推进器达到了远远超过我的速度，而且体积更小。5米每秒，几乎6米每秒。我为我的朋友感到自豪。然而，这引发了我自己的问题，我最终是谁？我的意思是，我是等离子通道还是等离子够多的通道呢？
Eventually the defeat got to me. It was at this time I realized the universe needed the BSI Mark II. Let's go. The new thruster would feature several improvements. First, since I've learned a 3D print, many of the structures and supports could be designed lighter and more compact. Additionally, the round electrodes on my first thruster introduced turbulence, and the brass added lots of weight. So all the electrodes need to be designed with an aerodynamic shape in mind, and reduced weight. Maybe I'd experiment with different configurations for the electrodes and see how that affects output.
最终，失败打败了我。就在这时，我意识到宇宙需要BSI Mark II。我们走吧。新的推进器将具备几个改进：首先，由于我学会了3D打印，许多结构和支架可以设计得更轻且更紧凑。此外，我的第一架推进器上的圆形电极引入了湍流，并且黄铜增加了很多重量。因此，所有电极都需要考虑其气动形状并减轻重量。也许我可以尝试不同的电极排列方式，看看它对输出的影响。
And the last major improvement was a little bit of an engineering task, but you know what? I was up for the challenge. The open frame of the last thruster was great for testing terrible for a fish and air flow. So I wanted housing which provides auxiliary airflow from the sides while containing and focusing the air already moving within the thruster. I had my work cut out for me.
最后一个主要的改进是一个有点工程任务，但你知道吗？我决定迎接挑战。最后一个推进器的开放式结构很适合测试，但对于鱼类和空气流动来说很糟糕。因此，我想要一个提供侧面辅助空气流动的套管，同时包含和聚焦已经在推进器内部流动的空气。我有很多工作要做。
I figured the best place to start would be to optimize a single section of the thruster first, right? And then move on from there. So I started with some 3D design and acrylic work. Alright, here's the assembled first stage of the thruster and I want to optimize this design before moving on to other stages.
我认为最好的开始是先优化推进器的一个部分，对吧？然后再从那里开始。所以我从一些3D设计和亚克力工作开始。好的，这是推进器的第一阶段组件，我想要在继续下一步之前优化这个设计。
But there's a couple of key features. First of all, the inlet utilizes a semi-venturie shape which should help a lot with airflow and drastically reduce any currents. And second, there's an adjustable inlet for air between the positive and the negative electrodes. Now this allows air to be sucked in from the sides during operation because of the low pressure inside the main body.
但有一些关键特征。首先，进气口采用半渐缩形状，这应该有助于空气流动，并大大减少任何气流。其次，正极和负极之间有一个可调节的进气口。现在，由于主体内部低压，可以在运行过程中从侧面吸入空气。
For all the tests, I'm using this power source. It pulses 15 volts into a flyback transformer which feeds a voltage multiplier about 8,000 volts producing 50,000. Let's test it. I started the tests with a 25 millimeter electrode spacing. I've got everything wired up and I busted out the same wind meter I used last time. Let's just plug this in and see. One point one point four one point five.
对于所有的测试，我都使用这个电源。它将15伏电脉冲输入到回流变压器中，进而向电压倍增器提供约8,000伏电压，最终输出50,000伏高压。现在，我们来测试一下。我使用了25毫米电极间距进行测试，并已将所有设备连接好，并放出了上次使用的相同风速仪。现在，我们只需要将电源插上并观察数据即可：1、1.4、1.5。
Next, I close the distance down to 16 millimeter spacing. Alright, let's give this another try. Oh man, 2.2 meters a second. That's unreal. 2.3, 2.4. Oh, that's unreal. I ended up running the test two more times because I just I really couldn't believe those numbers. And in reality, the average speed for a single stage of the thruster was close to 2.1 meters a second, which still totally blew me out of the water.
接下来，我把距离缩短到16毫米。好的，我们再试一遍。哇哦，每秒2.2米，简直不可思议。2.3,2.4。哇，这太不可思议了。我最终又试了两次，因为我真的不敢相信这些数字。而事实上，单个推进器阶段的平均速度接近于每秒2.1米，这完全超出了我的想象。
Now, even though I was pleased with the results I suspected, it could improve if the electrodes are spaced even closer. So I went back to the 3D design board and removed about 9 millimeters of length from the Venturi shroud. After eight hours of printing and several cups of coffee later, the new shroud was brought into reality. A quick rewiring of the positive electrode and reassembling of the first stage and it was good to go. I am curious what effect this is going to have. One way to find out.
虽然我对结果感到满意，但我怀疑如果电极之间距离更近，效果会更好。因此，我回到了三维设计板上，从文丘里罩中去掉了约9毫米的长度。经过八个小时的打印和几杯咖啡后，新的罩子终于成为现实。快速重新布线正极和重新组装第一级后，它就可以使用了。我很好奇这会产生什么影响。找到一种方法来找出答案。
Oh wow, 2.2, 2.3. That modification, man, that made a huge difference. This is going to be an epic thruster. Like before, I ran a triplicate test and found that speed is averaged 2.3 meters a second. That was a 10% increase. At this point, I really wanted to visualize the airflow better. You know what it looked like. So I used a couple of methods that have worked for me on the first thruster.
哇哦，2.2，2.3。那个改动，太牛了，这将会是一个史诗级的推进器。像以前一样，我进行了三次测试，发现速度平均为2.3米每秒。这是一个10%的增加。此时，我真的想更好地可视化气流。你知道它看起来像什么。所以我使用了一些在第一个推进器上行得通的方法。
Alright, so I want to know how does a candle stand up to this? Not even a chance. But to really see the airflow, I headed to a seafood department and grabbed some dry ice. It's a wonderful source of fog, especially when placed in hot water. The blacker acrylic is just for better visibility. Flipping the switch, it was clear the Venturi inlet was doing its job. Beautiful.
好的，我想知道蜡烛如何抵抗这个。根本没有机会。但为了真正看到气流，我去了海鲜部门，拿了一些干冰。它是一个美妙的雾化源，尤其是放在热水中。黑色亚克力只是为了更好的可见性。切换开关后，显然Venturi入口做到了它的工作。很美丽。
A really common suggestion I received for improving the first BSI thruster was to take the electrodes and place them perpendicular to each other. Curious to see what would happen, I gave that a try. Is this a good change? Let's find out, shall we? Oh, it's about the same. Actually, that's a little bit worse. That's kind of surprising. The average speed this produced was 2 meters a second, which honestly was kind of surprising because I assumed the cross grid structure would lead to more predictable and organized spots where the ionic winds being produced, right? Everywhere the wire is crossing. That wasn't the case. This told me that parallel is king.
我得到了一个非常常见的建议，可以改进第一个BSI推进器，那就是将电极垂直放置。为了看看会发生什么，我试了一试。这是一个好的改变吗？让我们发现一下吧？哦，结果差不多。实际上，这有点更糟。这有点令人惊讶。这种方法产生的平均速度是每秒2米。这有点令人惊讶，因为我以为交叉网格结构会带来更可预测和有组织的离子风产生的地方，对吧？任何地方电线交叉的地方。但情况并不是这样的。这告诉我，平行是最好的。
So far, all tests used a positive wire spaced between the grounds. Printing off another version, I was curious what effect placing the wire directly in front of them had. So I ran another test. It's about the same as before. 1.92 meters a second. Yeah, it's pretty steady at about 2 a second. It sounds terrifying though. Further tests showed that having electrodes perfectly lined up led to an average speed, again, of only 2 meters a second. So this told me that having the offset electrodes was actually the most efficient configuration.
到目前为止，所有的测试都使用了正导线之间间隔的地线。我打印了另一个版本，想知道将导线直接放在地线前面会有什么效果。于是我进行了另一次测试。结果和之前差不多，每秒1.92米。嗯，大约保持在每秒2米的速度。听起来很可怕。进一步的测试表明，电极完全对齐会导致平均速度仍然只有每秒2米。因此，这告诉我，偏移的电极实际上是最有效的配置。
Consider this. The old thruster put out 2.3 meters per second and it had three stages. This is just a single stage of the new thruster and it already puts out 90% of the velocity of the first version. That's a really good sign. And considering it weighs just over 120 grams, it's proportionately lighter as well. At this point, I had successfully created the world's crappiest and least OSHA compliant hairdryer. If I achieved upwards of 2.3 meters per second, with just a single stage, I sure as hell was curious what velocity three stages would bring.
考虑一下，旧的推进器每秒输出2.3米，它有三个级别。这只是新推进器的一个级别，它已经达到了第一版速度的90％。这是一个非常好的迹象。而且考虑到它的重量只有120克多一点，它的比例也更轻。此时，我成功地创造了世界上最烂和最不符合OSHA标准的吹风机。如果我只用一个级别就达到了2.3米每秒的速度，我肯定想知道三个级别带来的速度会是多少。
After a couple days of 3D printing, I was able to assemble the three stages together and address that question. Fully assembled, woo, what a beaut. You've got three identical sections of identical spacing between the sections and spacing between positive and negative electrode. You have an inlet for air right here and two auxiliary inlets on the side. I think this design is going to perform super well and only one way to find out. This is going to be sick. Oh yeah, 2.9, 2.0, can we get three? Three! Three meters a second. That's so cool.
几天的3D打印后，我成功地将三个部分组装在一起，并回答了那个问题。整个组装好后，哇，真漂亮。你有三个相同间隔的部分，以及正负电极之间的间距。你在这里有一个进气口和两个辅助进气口在侧面。我认为这个设计会表现得非常好，只有一种方法来验证。这将会很棒。哦，耶，2.9，2.0，我们能不能得到三呢？三！每秒三米。太酷了。
While that was an improvement, I essentially tripled the weight of a single stage, while only adding 30% more velocity. Hardly a win. So, I called up my friend Alex, who works at a rocket company in Los Angeles. We bounced ideas back on fourth on what tests we could perform to discover limitations of my design. Have you been playing with grid spacing? Eventually we settled on one test that would be very telling.
尽管取得了一些进步，但我本质上是将单个阶段的重量增加了三倍，仅增加了30％的速度。这几乎不算成功。因此，我打电话给我在洛杉矶一家火箭公司工作的朋友Alex。我们一起探讨了什么测试可以用来发现我的设计的限制。你是否尝试过改变网格间距？最终，我们确定了一项非常有意义的测试。
Here's the setup of God. Two separate sources of airflow, a separately powered PC fan in the front, followed by a single stage of the thruster. Now the fan puts out about 2 meters per second and the thruster also around 2 meters a second. So, what I want to know is when they combine, is it linear? Will it create 4 meters a second downstream? So, the thruster is on at about 2.1 meters a second. Now to give it a boost from the fan. 0.1 meters, 0.2 meters a second boost, that makes no sense.
这是上帝的设定。它包括两个独立的气流源，前面是一个单独供电的电脑风扇，后面是一级发动机。风扇的输出大约为每秒2米，发动机大约也是每秒2米。那么，我想知道它们结合在一起时是线性的吗？会不会在下游产生每秒4米的气流速度？因此，发动机的速度为约2.1米/秒。现在让它得到来自风扇的助推。0.1米，0.2米/秒的助推，这没有任何意义。
That test was pretty useful because it revealed a design flaw, which is that any air coming in at 2 meters a second or faster doesn't quite have enough time to interact with the next set of electrodes and be influenced to go faster. So, essentially the second and third stages don't really help very much.
那个测试相当有用，因为它揭示了一个设计缺陷，即进入的任何空气，如果速度达到每秒2米或以上，则没有足够的时间与下一套电极相互作用并被影响加速。因此，基本上第二和第三个阶段并没有起到太大的帮助。
To remedy this, I started by digging into NASA's designs for ionic thrusters. I also hit up my subscribers to see if any of them had experience with this. I received a lot of great offers and Charlie's response stood out to me. So, I hopped on a video call with him where he suggested using thinner wire and elongated grounds, which made physical sense. This meant yet another reprinting and further weighting. And by weighting, I mean 15 hours.
为了解决这个问题，我开始研究NASA的离子推进器设计。我还向我的订阅者寻求帮助，看是否有人有相关经验。我收到了很多好的建议，其中查理的回复吸引了我的注意。于是我和他进行了视频通话，他建议使用更薄的线和更长的地线，这在物理上是有道理的。这意味着需要重新打印并进一步增加重量。而且，通过增加重量，我的意思是需要再投入15个小时的时间。
While that printed, I had plenty of time to reflect on this video sponsor. So, this entire project was originally inspired by when I read that MIT had created an ionic thruster plane. And it was super cool. It was in the news. Honestly, it was all over the news. And that's why sponsors like Morning Brew are so important.
当我在打印时，我有很多时间思考这个视频的赞助商。所以，整个项目最初的灵感来自于我在读到麻省理工学院创建了一架离子推进器飞机时。真的很酷，这一条新闻一度火遍了整个新闻界。 这也是为什么像Morning Brew这样的赞助商如此重要。
Traditional news sources can be dry, dense, and addressing the elephant in the room a bit depressing. Morning Brew, on the other hand, is tailored to your needs, witty, and super informative. It's a daily newsletter delivered Monday through Sunday, which gets you up to speed on things like business, tech, and finance in under five minutes.
传统的新闻来源可能很枯燥、深奥，并且直言不讳地揭示问题，让人觉得有些沮丧。而另一方面，晨报则根据您的需求量身定制，风趣幽默，信息量超大。它每天通过新闻简报方式发送，从周一到周日，让您在不到五分钟的时间里了解商业、科技和金融等方面的信息。
It only takes an email to sign up and it's free. Instead of aimlessly searching for news in the morning, I've been using Morning Brew. And I learned that one, a giant Jurassic Air insect was found on the outside of an Arkansas Walmart. And two, yet another corridor was found inside the great pyramid of Egypt. And here's the deal I went inside of it last summer. And I walked a whole five feet from it. Oh, if I just had a sledgehammer. Considering it's free, it really makes no sense not to sign up. You can go to MorningBrewDaily.com slash plasma channel or click the link in the description down below.
只需发送一封电子邮件即可免费注册。我不再在早上毫无目的地浏览新闻，而是使用Morning Brew。通过它，我了解到：1. 在阿肯色州的一家沃尔玛外发现了一个巨大的侏罗纪时期的空气昆虫。2. 又在埃及的大金字塔中发现了另一个通道。去年夏天我曾进入过，距离它只有五英尺远，如果我那时有个铁锤，就好了。考虑到它是免费的，不注册真是毫无意义。你可以去MorningBrewDaily.com/plasma channel或点击下面描述中的链接。
All right, on to some thrust. Originally, the positive electrode had 32 gauge wire, easy to see. I changed that to 36 gauge, which is much thinner. And while the old ground used typical round tubing, the new ground electrode steps it up a notch with aerodynamic tubing. I also shortened the spacing between the stages by about 10 millimeters, which brought the thrusters new length to just over seven and a half inches or 19 centimeters. Total weight now equaled 450 grams, which is 10 percent lighter than the first BSI thruster or a full can of my favorite drinkable nitroglycerin.
好的，接下来谈谈推力方面的事情。最初的正极电线为32号线，很容易看到。我将它改为了36号线，这样更细。而旧的接地线使用了典型圆形管道，而新的接地线则使用更加流线型的管道。我还将级间距缩短了约10毫米，使得推进器新的长度只有7.5英寸或19厘米左右。总重量现在为450克，比第一个BSI推进器轻了10％，相当于我最喜欢的可喝性硝化甘油的一整罐的重量。
For testing, this thruster needed a proper stand, which meant one thing. Ah, nothing quite pops like nuclear green acrylic. Let's test these changes. So the lowest power level, about 30 watts, brings us 1.6, 1.7 meters a second. 50 watts brings us 2.4, 2.6. Okay, and this is full power at about 90 watts. 4, 3.8. Dude, that's a huge improvement.
为了测试，这个推进器需要一个适当的支架，这意味着一件事。啊，没有任何东西像核绿色亚克力一样不会突兀。让我们测试这些变化。因此，最低功率水平约为30瓦，我们可以获得1.6，1.7米每秒的速度。50瓦的功率可以带给我们2.4，2.6米每秒的速度。好的，这是大约90瓦的最大功率。4, 3.8米每秒。兄弟，这是一个巨大的提高。
Four meters per second obviously excited me, so I wanted to see the airflow on the final thruster. And the results blew me away. Oh, that's just biblical. You can see the inlet doing its job with smooth airflow over its edges and a tremendous amount of air movement. But what about the auxiliary inlets on the side? Were they pulling in additional air? You can see it right here, they are working beautifully.
每秒四米的速度明显让我兴奋不已，所以我想看一下最后的推进器上空气流动情况。结果让我惊讶不已。哦，太神奇了。你可以看到进气口正在顺畅地工作，沿着边缘产生巨大的空气流动。但是侧面的辅助进气口呢？它们是否在吸入额外的空气？在这里你可以看到，它们运行得非常好。
Eagerly wanting to see the airflow on the output, I leaned on an old friend, the pyro inside of me. Oh, God. Woo! Oh my God. How's that for airflow? Oh, woo! The airflow on this is just insane. It has a 12 centimeter diameter and it's pushing air at about 4 meters a second, right? Let's compare this to the first BSI thruster and see how it measures up. Mark 1 measured 38 centimeters, 495 grams, produced 2.3 meters per second, and was super fragile. Mark 2 measures 19 centimeters is 10 percent lighter at 450 grams, produces 4 meters a second, and is structurally solid. I think it's pretty clear this is a huge improvement.
急切地想要看到输出的气流，我依靠了内心的老朋友——内燃机。哦，天哪。哇！哦，我的天。这个气流是什么感觉？哇！这个气流真是疯狂啊。直径为12厘米，推送空气的速度大约是每秒4米，对吧？让我们将其与第一个BSI推进器进行比较，看看它的表现如何。一代推进器的直径为38厘米，重量495克，产生2.3米每秒的速度，而十分脆弱。二代推进器尺寸为19厘米，重量比一代轻10%，为450克，产生4米每秒的速度，而且结构坚固。我认为很明显，这是一个巨大的进步。
For an explanation of the science behind the thruster, my first video details the physics behind ionic thrust. Ultimately, the work put into this thruster taught me a ton about airflow, and it brings me one step closer to an ionic thrust airplane of my own design. Ultimately, that is the goal of the thruster. Good progress, but a lot of work to be done.
第一段视频解释了离子推进器背后的科学原理。从制作这个推进器中，我深入了解了空气流动方面的知识，这让我离我自己设计的离子推进飞机更近了一步。推进器的最终目标就是实现这个。虽然有了不错的进展，但还有很多工作要做。