Students built a hybrid drone that can seamlessly transition from flying in the air to moving through water.
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The working prototype of the hybrid drone was developed by students as part of their thesis at Aalborg University in Denmark, and they recently shared a video showing the drone in action.
In the video, the drone takes off next to a large swimming pool and then quickly dives into the water. It hovers for a few seconds below the surface before launching back into the air. The video shows the drone repeating this impressive feat from various angles.
Andrei Copaci, Pawel Kowalczyk, Krzysztof Sierocki and Mikolaj Dzwigalo, all students of applied industrial electronics, achieved this impressive air-to-water transition using variable-angle propellers, which can adjust the angle of their blades to operate efficiently in both environments.
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This isn't the first time a hybrid air-water drone has been created. In 2015, researchers at Rutgers University in New Jersey developed a similar prototype, while Chinese scientists unveiled a drone capable of transitioning from air to water in 2023.
According to a LinkedIn post by Petar Durdevic , associate professor and head of the Offshore Drones and Robots research group at Aalborg University, the students designed, built, and tested their drone over two semesters at the university.
The team used a 3D printer and a CNC machine – another automated manufacturing tool – to produce the necessary parts, while the drone was programmed with custom-built software. Finally, they moved on to the testing phase.
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The new drone is currently just a prototype, but this type of technology has a multitude of potential real-world applications – from providing assistance in emergency situations to military operations.
Source: livescience
