Completely waterproof, this drone features a set of self-folding propellers that retract when operated at lower speeds underwater. He also knows how to save his energy thanks to a suction cup system inspired by a fish.
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[EN VIDÉO] This drone boat monitors dams No, this remote control boat is not a toy. We see it here in action on the reservoir of the Saint-Égrève dam, in Isère. Equipped with a bathymetric sounder, it probes the depth and allows monitoring of the reservoir’s storage capacity. With its small size, it has become indispensable and, if necessary, it can navigate independently.
here is a drone capable of moving underwater like a submarine and can get out of it in the blink of an eyeeye to fly, the biomechanics and soft robotics laboratory of theBeijing Beihang University (BUAA) managed to combine. The quadricopter of this laboratory specialized in aeronautics and astronautics is completely waterproof and its rotors have retractable propellers. They fully extend to fly, and underwater they retract to form a propulsion system submarine. To get out of the water, they open gradually but quickly enough that the device can get out of the water and take off in just a third of a second, according to the researchers. During their tests, the scientists repeated the immersion-take-off operation seven consecutive times in just 20 seconds. In addition to this feat, the drone also knows how to optimize the autonomy of its battery.
Cling to another fish to save battery
This is again using the biomimicry that this improvement has been achieved. The designers were inspired by the tapered remora. the fish has a surface similar to small suction cups which allow it to attach itself to a host fish to be transported and save energyenergy. The drone, too, is equipped on the back of a kind of disc which by a suction cup system can adhere to many surfaces, even rough ones. With this accessory, the drone can find a host submarine who wouldn’t be scared off by its rotors or pace. More plausibly, this method could allow the drone to cling to a surface to remain in a stationary observation position. The energy would be dedicated to the operation of the sensors and the camera. The same could be achieved in theair on a building, or for example at the top of a mast.
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