Golf Ball Dimples: Faster Underwater Vehicles
- Inspired by the dimples on golf balls, researchers have developed a new prototype that could make underwater vehicles more efficient and maneuverable.
- golf ball dimples famously cut through pressure drag, allowing the ball to travel about 30% farther than a smooth ball.
- Anchal Sareen, an assistant professor of naval architecture and marine engineering and mechanical engineering at UM, explained the potential impact of this dynamically programmable outer skin.
Inspired by golf ball dimples, a cutting-edge prototype promises to revolutionize underwater vehicle maneuverability.This novel technology utilizes adjustable dimples, the primarykeyword, to substantially reduce drag, enhancing efficiency and control in submerged environments. Researchers at the University of Michigan have developed a dynamic skin, the secondarykeyword, able to adapt to speed variations, optimizing performance and potentially reducing fuel consumption.The innovative design, tested in wind tunnels, demonstrated a remarkable 50% reduction in drag compared to smooth surfaces. This breakthrough could usher in a new era of compact,agile underwater vehicles,ideal for surveillance,mapping,and data collection,as highlighted by News Directory 3. Discover what’s next as this technology evolves, promising to transform unmanned aerial and underwater vehicle capabilities.
Golf Ball Tech Enhances Underwater Vehicle Maneuverability
Updated May 28, 2025
Inspired by the dimples on golf balls, researchers have developed a new prototype that could make underwater vehicles more efficient and maneuverable. The technology uses adjustable surface dimples to reduce drag, potentially allowing vehicles to access hard-to-reach areas for surveillance, mapping, and data collection.
golf ball dimples famously cut through pressure drag, allowing the ball to travel about 30% farther than a smooth ball. Taking this principle underwater, a team at the University of Michigan created a spherical prototype with dynamically programmable dimples and tested its aerodynamics in a wind tunnel.
Anchal Sareen, an assistant professor of naval architecture and marine engineering and mechanical engineering at UM, explained the potential impact of this dynamically programmable outer skin. She said it could drastically reduce drag and eliminate the need for fins or rudders.By actively adjusting its surface texture, the vehicle could achieve precise maneuverability with enhanced efficiency and control.
the prototype features a thin layer of latex stretched over a hollow sphere with holes. A vacuum pump controls the dimples by pulling the latex inwards when activated and releasing it to create a smooth surface when deactivated. Researchers tested the sphere in a wind tunnel, measuring drag and airflow patterns at different wind speeds and dimple depths.
The tests revealed that shallower dimples were more effective at high wind speeds, while deeper dimples performed better at lower speeds. By adjusting the dimple depth,the sphere achieved a 50% reduction in drag compared to a smooth sphere across all tested conditions.This adaptive skin setup adjusts dimples to maintain drag reductions, potentially reducing fuel consumption in underwater vehicles.
Rodrigo Vilumbrales-Garcia, a postdoctoral research fellow at UM, noted the adaptive skin’s ability to adjust to changes in air speed, optimizing drag reduction. He suggested that applying this concept to underwater vehicles could substantially reduce both drag and fuel consumption.
The smart morphable sphere can also generate lift, enabling controlled movement. By designing the inner skeleton with holes on only one side, the sphere develops one smooth and one dimpled side when activated. This asymmetry creates a force that pushes the sphere in the direction of the dimples,allowing for precise steering.
Putu Brahmanda Sudarsana, a UM graduate student, expressed surprise at the results, noting that this simple approach produced results comparable to the magnus effect, but without requiring continuous rotation. He suggested this could benefit compact spherical robotic submarines, prioritizing maneuverability for exploration and inspection.
Looking ahead, Sareen envisions collaborations to further advance the capabilities of this dynamic skin technology, potentially revolutionizing unmanned aerial and underwater vehicles. She believes this innovation offers a lightweight, energy-efficient, and highly responsive choice to customary control surfaces, enhancing maneuverability and optimizing performance.
“this smart dynamic skin technology could be a game-changer for unmanned aerial and underwater vehicles, offering a lightweight, energy-efficient and highly responsive alternative to traditional jointed control surfaces,” Sareen said.
What’s next
Future research will focus on combining expertise in materials science and soft robotics to further develop the dynamic skin technology, potentially leading to more advanced and versatile underwater vehicles.