Students 3D-print drone that goes from swimming underwater to flying seamlessly

These four students at Aalborg University Esbjerg designed, built, and fully tested the prototype drone within two semesters. The resulting robot is a drone capable of underwater navigation as well as flight.

To pull this off, the team used a variable-pitch propeller system — this system allows for blades to be rotated along their axis — allowing for variable blade pitch. In this case, the blades are angled at a lower pitch for underwater navigation, and vice versa.

In a two-minute demonstration video posted on YouTube by Andrei Copaci, the drone took off from the ground, flew around, submerged itself into a pool, traveled a few feet underwater, then re-emerged, all without a hassle.

The drone sports an ergonomic design, featuring a circular body housing the battery and control unit. It has four symmetrically placed extending two-blade rotors. It looks like an upgraded version of a 2015 drone from a Rutgers University team, which used four coaxial rotors, but was limited to wired control. Right now, it is unknown whether the students drew inspiration from the project.

In a similar development, 10 days ago we reported a drone 3D-printed by a DIY engineer which was capable of walking, flying, and swimming on the surface of water.