Could this flying, diving drone one day help with ocean rescues? Its Hong Kong and mainland China developers say it’s possible
- The TJ-FlyingFish prototype can land on water, dive up to 3 metres and stay underwater for 40 minutes, says team
- Researchers aim to design a drone to make engineering and inspecting projects such as the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge safer
The prototype – developed by scientists in Hong Kong and mainland China – appears similar to an uncrewed aircraft with four rotors that is available on the market today. But once it lands on water, the drone can dive up to 3 metres (10 feet) deep, move as fast as 2 metres per second and stay under water for around 40 minutes.
Chen Benmei, a professor of mechanical and automation engineering at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said after installing a camera and more sensors, the drone would be able to evaluate the underwater environment and be ready for real-world application.
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He said the team had spent almost three years overcoming technical difficulties to build the amphibious drone.
“Waterproofing is a very challenging task, especially in seawater,” Chen said. “We are still working on the navigation and localisation under water because we don’t have GPS under water.
“Once it is under water, communication will be very limited.”
The hybrid drone is named the TJ-FlyingFish after CHUK’s partner institute – Tongji University’s Shanghai Research Institute for Intelligent Autonomous Systems.