'Transformer' drone can swim as well as it flies...

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'Transformer' drone can swim as well as it flies...

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The 'Transformer' flying drone that's also a SUBMARINE: Navy funds research into robot that can swim as well as it flies

Amphibious drone received a $618,000 grant from Office of Naval Research
The flying vehicle would be able to search the water from above and below
Researchers are developing way to control it wirelessly with sound pulses

A flying, swimming drone may soon be able to aid search and rescue missions for the US Navy, and even locate deep sea mines.

The Rutgers University drone recently received a $618,000 grant from the Office of Naval Research, and is equally skilled underwater as it is in the air.

Dubbed Naviator, the UAV could also be useful in monitoring the spread of oil spills, and the developers say it will be ready for seawater tests as soon as next summer.

Creator of the 'Naviator' drone, Javier Diez, a professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, has spent years developing the concept with the help of graduate and undergraduate students.

After demonstrating the design to Navy research officials earlier this year, he received funding almost immediately.

'They told me they'd never seen anything like it,' Diez he said.

While the concept seems reminiscent of the skills of some animals, who are able to fly and swim, the designer says this drone defies nature in its ability to perform both tasks with equal proficiency.

'Waterfowl are still better at flying than swimming, and flying fish are still better at swimming than flying. Our device is equally adept at both,' he said.

'In a sense, we are defying nature rather than emulating it.'

A drone of this kind could have many applications in a naval setting. The transforming vehicle would be able to search the water from above and below, to locate missing swimmers and sailors.]

'The need to map where mines are. Now there are a lot of false positives. This could be a better technology to rapidly investigate these potential threats.'

These drones have potential for use on the frontlines of naval warfare, and would be able to emerge from an underwater base or submarine to glimpse enemy ships while remaining unseen.

Current models being tested by the research team are tethered to a controller by a thin wire. Typical radio signals can't penetrate water, and the researchers are looking into ways control the drones with sound pulses instead.

'By next summer, we plan to demonstrate a vehicle that can swim in a seawater environment and do complex manoeuvres,' he said.

'At that point, we'll start to outfit it with whatever sensors the Navy wants to have, such as cameras and sonar detectors.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3370947/The-Transformer-flying-drone-s-SUBMARINE-Navy-funds-research-UAV-swim-flies.html