Engineers at Oakland University's Embedded Systems Research Laboratory have built a waterproof drone that can fly through the air, float on water or move through water submerged. The drone, called the AirHopper, is designed to be used in search and rescue operations as well as disaster relief operations. Water is pumped out of the cyclinder for the water-to-air transition. The creators see the drones being used in search and rescue missions or as underwater engineering inspectors.
Engineers at Oakland University's Embedded Systems Research Laboratory have built a waterproof drone that can fly through the air, float on water or move through water submerged. The conventional quadcopter has a cylinder that can be used to change the drone's buoyancy, filled either with air to fly or water to sink. Water is pumped out of the cyclinder for the water-to-air transition. The creators see the drones being used in search and rescue missions or as underwater engineering inspectors.