Airborne drones can travel long distances quickly, while underwater drones can explore underwater environments. The TJ-FlyingFish offers the best of both worlds, as it’s a flying quadcopter that can also fly through inky depths.
TJ-FlyingFish, currently in the form of a functional prototype, was developed by a team of scientists from the Shanghai Institute of Intelligent Autonomous Systems, Tongji University, and the Unmanned Systems Research Group at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, China.
At first glance, it looks like any other quadcopter. A central dome-shaped body and he consists of four arms, with a propulsion unit (motor/propeller module) at the end of each arm. However, each propulsion unit incorporates a special two-speed gearbox of his, allowing the arm it is attached to to rotate independently relative to the rest of the drone.
When the aircraft is in flight, all four units face upwards and rotate the prop at the higher of the two speeds. Upon landing on the surface of the water, the unit rotates downwards and rotates at a slow speed to pull the drone under the water. After the drone is fully submerged, it adjusts the angle and thrust of each propulsion unit as needed to move both vertically and horizontally.
Yes, once underwater work is completed, the drone can return to the surface and fly away.
Ben Chen
In its current proof-of-concept form, the 1.63 kg (3.6 lb) TJ-FlyingFish can hover for 6 minutes or stay underwater for 40 minutes per battery charge. It can also descend to a maximum depth of 3 m (9.8 ft) and has a top speed of 2 m (6.6 ft) per second underwater.
Additionally, Professor Ben Chen of the Chinese University of Hong Kong says the drone will be fully autonomous and will not require a “human in the loop” at any point in its amphibious journey. Possible applications of this technology include aerial/aquatic surveys, remote sensing, and search and rescue operations.
You can see the TJ-FlyingFish in action in the video below. Chen and his colleagues will present a paper on his research at his 2023 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation in London this May.
As an interesting side note, scientists at the University of Auckland have previously developed their own flying/underwater swimming quadcopter known as the Loon Copter. Land horizontally on the surface of the water, pump water into the buoyancy chamber, and tilt to one side. The drone then navigates through the water using its vertical propellers, moving up and down by pumping water in and out of the buoyancy chamber.
TJ-FlyingFish Flight/Underwater Drone
Source: The Chinese University of Hong Kong by New Scientist
