A vehicle with vehicle traction enhancement system providing increased tractive force is disclosed. The traction enhancement system includes a thruster. The thruster includes a prime mover and an air pressure generator. The traction enhancement system further includes an energy storage to provide energy for the prime mover. The thruster is mounted on vehicle chassis structure, el body, and/or suspension, substantially vertical to the vehicle to provide an upward thrust to the vehicle to increase the reactive downward normal force to provide the enhanced tractive force.

Polymeric electro spray emitters and related methods are generally described. In some embodiments, an emitter may be made from an ionic electro active polymer. The composition of the electro spray emitters described herein may enable the transport of ions and/or liquid ion sources, such as an ionic liquid or room temperature molten salt, through the bulk of the polymeric emitter. In some embodiments, the described emitters may be fabricated using a mixture of an ionic electroactive polymer, a solvent, and a liquid ion source to at least partially mitigate swelling effects of the polymer emitter that may otherwise occur when the one or more emitters are exposed to the liquid ion source during operation.

An ionic wind propulsion system with a toroidal counter electrode that allows in-atmosphere propulsion in negative polarity. There are pin emitters extended on the trailing edge of a propeller placed above the toroidal counter-electrode that provides axial thrust with a corona discharge upon an electric current being applied. Axial thrust occurs due to the linear acceleration of ions between electrodes and the induced rotary motion of the propeller which captures the energy and momentum of ions accelerated in the propeller's rotational plane. An array of propellers and toroidal counter electrodes can be used to power aircraft, such as drones.

An apparatus for ionizing and accelerating a fluid comprises at least a pair of spaced-apart electrodes arranged coaxially and each comprising a planar, electrically conductive body locating a plurality of apertures arranged to substantially uniformly distribute electric charge across the body and to permit passage of the particles of the fluid therethrough. At least a leading one of the electrodes of the adjacent pair includes one or more electrically conductive projections electrically coupled to and extending generally axially in a common direction from a common side of the electrode body. The projections are arranged at spaced locations on the side of the electrode body. The projections of the leading electrode point towards a trailing one of the electrodes and define a direction of movement of the fluid.

The disclosed subject matter relates to an ion thruster for thrust vectored propulsion of a spacecraft, comprising a reservoir for a propellant, an emitter having a base and, on one side of the base, at least one outlet for emitting ions of the propellant, wherein the base is connected to the reservoir for providing flow of propellant from the reservoir to said at least one outlet, and an extractor facing said one side of the emitter for extracting and accelerating the ions from the emitter, wherein the extractor is split into sectors about an axis which orthogonally runs through said one side of the emitter, wherein said sectors are electrically insulated from one another.

An apparatus generates energetic particles and generates a plasma of a vaporized solid material and gaseous precursors for the application of coatings to surfaces of a substrate by way of condensation of plasma and for electric propulsion applications.

A plasma thruster has a tunable electron source configured to provide electrons with controllable energy. An entry electrode and an exit electrode permit an air flow to pass from the entry electrode to the exit electrode. The entry electrode and exit electrode receive electrons from the tunable electron source. A controller selectively controls the entry and exit electrodes to accelerate positive and negative ions in the air.

Systems, methods, and apparatus for a structural propellant for ion rockets (SPIR) are disclosed. In one or more embodiments, a method for in-space propulsion of a spacecraft involves removing, by a removal device, a portion of a structure of the spacecraft. The method further involves feeding, by the removal device, the portion into a Hall thruster system. Further, the method involves utilizing, by the Hall thruster system, the portion as propellant to produce thrust. In one or more embodiments, the structure is an upper stage of the spacecraft. In at least one embodiment, the upper stage comprises at least one structural support and/or at least one upper stage housing. In some embodiments, the structure is manufactured from magnesium, bismuth, zinc, and/or indium.

Micro-emitter arrays and methods of microfabricating such emitter arrays are provided. The microfabricated emitter arrays incorporate a plurality of emitters with heights greater than 280 microns with uniformity of +/10 microns arranged on a supporting silicon substrate, each emitter comprising an elongated body extending from the top surface of the substrate and incorporating at least one emitter tip on the distal end of the elongated body thereof. The emitters may be disposed on the substrate in an ordered array in an X by Y grid pattern, wherein X and Y can be any number greater than zero. The micro-emitter arrays may utilize a LMIS propellant source including, for example, gallium, indium, bismuth, or tin. The substrate may incorporate at least one through-via providing a fluid pathway for the LMIS propellant to flow from a propellant reservoir beneath the substrate to the top substrate surface whereupon the micro-emitter array is disposed.

A blower/fan with greatly reduced noise levels over conventional blade-based blower/fans (e.g., less than 50 decibels in a leaf blower) with extraordinary longevity due to having virtually no moving parts. The air motivating force comes from an electrohydrodynamic ionic wind created by a very strong electric field crossing two electrodes. This ionic flow strikes air molecules which take away some of the ion momentum, thus amplifying the wind flow. This wind is then further amplified by inducing outside air to be added to this wind by means of a Coand surface at the entrance to the wind tunnel and which then feeds over a slit from which the ionic wind enters into said wind tunnel. A diffuser section follows said slit and causes the wind speed to slow down while at the same time causing the wind pressure to build for optimal exiting air characteristics. The diffuser and Coand surfaces will have minimal drag due to a surface coating that has low air friction (e. g., PTFE Teflon) that is dimpled similar to a golf ball so as to further reduce drag. Such drag reduction lowers wind/surface energy losses and reduces audible noise created by drag. Most of the noise reduction occurs due to the absence of an electric motor as well as having no turbine blades. Unlimited applications for this air movement technology exist, including air transport vehicles, vacuum cleaners, leaf blowers, room fans, drones, etc.