DIY Photography

Your one stop shop for everything photo-video

  • News
  • Inspiration
  • Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • DIY
  • Gear
Search

Submit A Story

This Navy-funded drone can both fly and swim

Dec 15, 2015 by Gannon Burgett Add Comment

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Drone1

UAV stands for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. But, if a team of scientists at Rutgers University have a say in the matter, it will soon be an acronym for Unmanned Aquatic Vehicle as well.

Meet the Naviator, a quadcopter designed to be used both underwater and in the skies.

Funded by the Navy, Naviator is the result of two months of work and a $618,000 grant given to Javier Diez, a professor at Rutgers’ Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXchAsxyxjM

The quadcopter is designed to be just as efficient at swimming as it is at flying, with Diez saying to Rutgers Today:

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 […] In a sense, we are defying nature rather than emulating it.

Like any other drone, the applications for Naviator are seemingly endless, especially with the R&D department of the U.S. Navy being the hand that feeds its funds. But, as I’m sure all of you are hoping for as well, it’d be one heck of a device to see a camera attached to.

Drone3

Like any prototype, it has its limitations. Since radio signals don’t travel well underwater, the current device needs to be attached via a thin wire to operate underwater.

Down the road, Diez says he and the engineering team will need to find a way to control the vehicle using acoustics, which travel far more efficiently underwater. Furthermore, the device is unable to carry any extra weight. Both of these limitations are expected to be overcome by summer 2016.

Drone2

Nowadays, we don’t blink twice at footage captured by a drone – we’ve become conditioned to consider it the norm. It’ll be interesting to see if underwater drone footage will have a similar initial ‘WOW!’ factor.

What’s the first attraction you’d head to with an air-and-sea drone?

[via Vocativ]

FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Related posts:

The SPRY drone can fly in the air and swim underwater Default Thumbnail5 Kickstarter Projects I Would Love To See Get Funded Yashica’s new camera and film funded on Kickstarter despite the digiFilm Y35 fail British? It’s cheaper to fly to NYC, buy an EOS R5 and fly back

Filed Under: news Tagged With: drone, Rutgers, UAV, underwater

Gannon Burgett: from diyphotography.net

About Gannon Burgett

Gannon Burgett is a communications professional with over a decade of experience editing, photographing, and writing content seen through hundreds of millions of pageviews, both online and in print.

« Instagram Sensation Humorously Teaches Normal Dude How To Take Sexy Photos
Japan Introduces A Drone Hunting Drone – Nets Rogue Drones In Mid Air »

Submit A Story

Get our FREE Lighting Book

DIYP lighting book cover

* download requires newsletter signup

Recent Comments

Free Resources

Advanced lighting book

Learn photography

Recent Posts

  • NASA reveals five photos of space objects invisible to human eye
  • Tamron’s 17-50mm f/4 Di III VXD lens ships in October
  • Facebook now lets you (legally) have multiple profiles
  • A closer look at Sigma’s new Fuji X-mount lenses
  • Everything you need to know before you start film photography

Udi Tirosh: from diyphotography.netUdi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.

Alex Baker: from diyphotography.netAlex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

David Williams: from diyphotography.netDave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.

John Aldred: from diyphotography.netJohn Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

Dunja Djudjic: from diyphotography.netDunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

Copyright © DIYPhotography 2006 - 2023 | About | Contact | Advertise | Write for DIYP | Full Disclosure | Privacy Policy