CREATING A 3D-PRINTED BOAT POWERED BY A TESLA TURBINE AND LILY IMPELLER

Why buy a radio-controlled boat when you cand 3D print your own and then power it with a Tesla turbine and Lily impeller!

When YouTuber, Integza, gets an idea in his head, the engineer in him simply has to make it a reality. Fortunately, he's a smart guy, and he has a 3D printer.

The idea to build a boat came from something called a Lily impeller. This is a spiral- or vortex-shaped propeller that was "designed using the elegant and effective geometries found in natural fluid flow," says inventor, Jay Harman.

Basically, it is the opposite of a propeller. It pulls the boat through the water as opposed to pushing. It's a smart design and is changing the way humans do things because of its energy-saving nature.

Back to the boat, and Integza's 3D printed impeller. As he didn't have a vessel to propel, he 3D printed a simple single hull. Then it was time to find a power source. Enter Nicolas Tesla.

In 1913, Tesla patented a bladeless centripetal turbine that uses something called the 'boundary-layer effect' to work. It's a complicated system but one that Integza easily explains as he builds one from scratch on his 3D printer.

Powering the turbine requires air pressure, so Integza got his hands on four two-litre soda bottles. After some hilarious testing, he connected them together and pressurised them to six bar.

Finally, using the insides of a stripped out RC car, he installed a rudder for steering and an accelerator switch for the turbine.

Yes, the boat moves at a snail's pace, but the ingenuity behind this project is incredible. In this instance, a larger Lily impeller would probably work better, but Integza proved that the concept works, and that's what engineers love the most.

Not only is this video informative, but it's hilarious too. Integza is a funny guy!