T200 Thruster

First launched through Blue Robotics' 2014 Kickstarter campaign, the T200 has grown to become the most widely adopted underwater thruster available. You'll find thousands of them driving everything from compact inspection ROVs and autonomous underwater vehicles to surface boats, and even human-carrying platforms.

At its core, the T200 uses a patented fully-flooded brushless motor design. The motor windings and stator are fully encapsulated, while the magnets and rotor are coated for corrosion resistance. The thruster housing and propeller are injection-moulded from durable polycarbonate, and all exposed metal hardware is marine-grade 316 stainless steel.

What sets the flooded design apart from conventional thrusters is that seawater flows through the motor itself. This provides natural water cooling for the windings and water lubrication for the bearings, eliminating the need for shaft seals, magnetic couplings, or sealed oil/air chambers. The result is inherent pressure tolerance, a compact footprint, and fewer parts overall, which keeps the cost down.

Electrically, the T200 is a three-phase brushless outrunner, similar in principle to drone and RC aircraft motors, but purpose-engineered for subsea operation. It requires a sensorless brushless ESC (such as the Blue Robotics Basic ESC) and is optimised for 16 V nominal operation (e.g. a 4S lithium-ion pack), though it supports a working voltage range of 7–20 V. Detailed thrust and efficiency curves across various voltages are available in the Performance Charts section below.

ROVs, AUVs & Underwater Drones

The T200 is the propulsion backbone for a wide range of subsea vehicles, from our own BlueROV2 to third-party ROVs built by distributors like JM Robotics. Its compact form factor and strong thrust output make it equally well suited to AUV platforms, opening up affordable autonomous underwater capability for researchers, scientists, and commercial operators. You'll also find T200s powering inspection drones used for infrastructure surveys, hull inspections, aquaculture monitoring, and wreck exploration.

Robotics Competitions

The T200 has become the thruster of choice across major robotics competitions, including MATE ROV, RoboSub, RoboBoat, the European Robotics League (ERL), and the Singapore AUV Challenge (SAUVC). It offers competition teams a reliable, affordable alternative to the bilge-pump motors and high-cost thrusters that were previously the only options.

Surface Vessels, Kayaks & SUPs

Beyond subsea use, the T200 is a popular choice for propelling unmanned surface vessels (USVs); its flexible mounting options mean almost anything that floats can be motorised. Pair a T200 with a battery, ESC, and the Thruster Commander and you have instant electric propulsion for a kayak or stand-up paddleboard. A twin-T200 setup on a SUP can push speeds past 3 knots.

Each T200 ships ready to run and includes both clockwise and counterclockwise propellers. To get going, you'll need a compatible speed controller (such as the Blue Robotics Basic ESC), a power source (e.g. our lithium battery), and a signal source, this could be a Thruster Commander, an RC receiver, or a microcontroller like an Arduino or Raspberry Pi.

Extensive technical documentation, performance data, code examples, and tutorials are available in the Technical Details and Learn sections of this page. The Blue Robotics online forum is also a great resource; the community there is doing everything from generative ROV design to freediving jet boots to autonomous lionfish-hunting robots.

Quick Start

1. Connect the thruster wires to the ESC motor phase wires.
2. Connect the ESC to a power source.
3. Connect the ESC signal wire to a signal source.
4. Send a signal and the thruster will spin up. That's it.

Important Safety & Handling Notes

• Always exercise caution when working with electricity near water.
• Keep hands, fingers, and loose clothing clear of the thruster inlet and outlet while the propeller is spinning.
• Do not run the thruster dry for more than 10 seconds. The bearings rely on water for lubrication and may be damaged without it.
• Avoid drawing seaweed or debris into the thruster, as this can cause damage.
• Most threadlocking compounds are chemically incompatible with polycarbonate and will crack the housing. Only use a polycarbonate-safe threadlocker on the mounting screws if required.
• Some clicking or noise is normal, particularly when running dry. Most vibration and noise disappear once the thruster is submerged.

Nominal operation at 12–16 V is recommended for the best balance of thrust and efficiency, though operation at up to 20 V is allowable. Exceeding 20 V is not within the rating and not recommended.

PERFORMANCE

ELECTRICAL

PHYSICAL

WEIGHT

MOUNTING

CABLE

*Values limited by ESC used to drive thruster.

Interactive performance charts showing thrust, RPM, power, and efficiency at various throttle levels across supply voltages from 10–20 V are available on the Blue Robotics product page. Click the legend entries to show or hide individual voltage data sets. Raw test data and methodology notes can also be downloaded from Blue Robotics directly.

Dimensioned 2D drawings for the T200 Thruster are available for download from Blue Robotics.

3D CAD models of the T200 are available for download in multiple formats, suitable for integration into your mechanical designs and simulations.