OddBrief
Dropped from 150 metres, this robot spins like a maple seed, then turns into a sailboat
According to the German site t3n, researchers at the Singapore University of Technology and Design describe in the journal Science Robotics a robot that, once released from a plane or drone, lands on water and turns into a sailboat.
To slow its fall, Albatross has neither a parachute nor a propeller. Like the winged seed of the maple, it spins on itself under the effect of gravity and air. This rotation produces lift, which sharply slows its descent.
Once on the water, the robot rights itself. The rigid wings that were used to spin and land then become sails.
The whole machine weighs just one kilogram and has only three motors and three sensors, t3n reports.
In trials, Albatross survived a 150-metre drop over a lake. It then sailed on its own for three hours on a reservoir in Singapore, passing through the planned waypoints. On the way, it recorded air humidity and water temperature.
The researchers envisage dropping this type of robot during an oil spill or an algal bloom to gather data quickly. The robot does have one limit, however: once on the water, it cannot take off again.
Source
- t3n · t3n.de
