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Kathleen Martin
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Scientists develop a drone that can make an ultrafast transition from underwater to aerial vehicle .
A new drone design could pave the way for ultrafast transitions between air and water.
The robot, designed by scientists from Beihang University, Imperial College London and Empa, is capable of switching from an underwater drone to an aerial vehicle in less than one second. This capability could allow it to make great advances in biological and environmental monitoring in marine ecosystems, such as surveying ocean pollution in the open sea.
The drone’s suction disc was inspired by the remora fish – a family of species known for their adhesive discs, which help them catch a ride on marine creatures including whales and sharks. This enables the drone to hitchhike on wet or dry moving objects to significantly reduce its power consumption, the scientists have explained in a new study published in Science Robotics.
Its new propeller design is the feature that allows it to transition between mediums faster than most prior aerial-aquatic robots.
Until now, despite the potential use of untethered drones for research expeditions and wildlife surveys in remote environments, the lack of external power sources has often been a concern. To address this limitation, the scientists 3D-printed an aerial-aquatic untethered robot that reduces its power consumption through hitchhiking. Moreover, the remote-controlled robot’s disc can stick to wet and dry surfaces with different textures, even on moving objects.
Designed by a team of scientists from China, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, the versatile robot and its bio-inspired adhesive disc could be adapted for open-environment aerial and aquatic surveillance research.
Continue reading: https://eandt.theiet.org/content/articles/2022/05/drone-transitions-from-air-to-water-in-less-than-a-second/
A new drone design could pave the way for ultrafast transitions between air and water.
The robot, designed by scientists from Beihang University, Imperial College London and Empa, is capable of switching from an underwater drone to an aerial vehicle in less than one second. This capability could allow it to make great advances in biological and environmental monitoring in marine ecosystems, such as surveying ocean pollution in the open sea.
The drone’s suction disc was inspired by the remora fish – a family of species known for their adhesive discs, which help them catch a ride on marine creatures including whales and sharks. This enables the drone to hitchhike on wet or dry moving objects to significantly reduce its power consumption, the scientists have explained in a new study published in Science Robotics.
Its new propeller design is the feature that allows it to transition between mediums faster than most prior aerial-aquatic robots.
Until now, despite the potential use of untethered drones for research expeditions and wildlife surveys in remote environments, the lack of external power sources has often been a concern. To address this limitation, the scientists 3D-printed an aerial-aquatic untethered robot that reduces its power consumption through hitchhiking. Moreover, the remote-controlled robot’s disc can stick to wet and dry surfaces with different textures, even on moving objects.
Designed by a team of scientists from China, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, the versatile robot and its bio-inspired adhesive disc could be adapted for open-environment aerial and aquatic surveillance research.
Continue reading: https://eandt.theiet.org/content/articles/2022/05/drone-transitions-from-air-to-water-in-less-than-a-second/
