Naviator Drone Is Amphibious

When it comes to drones, some incidents in recent times have not had too positive an impact – including that of a toddler getting his eyeball cut in half by an out of control drone. Well, here is a new drone that might just increase its versatility, and that would be the Naviator. What makes the Naviator so special? For starters, this is one drone that will not only be able to fly just like any other drone out there, it is also able to swim – now how about that for versatility?

The Naviator drone happens to be a Navy-funded project, and a prototype of it has been built by Javier Diez, a professor at Rutgers’ Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, riding on a grant of $618,000. Needless to say, the possibilities of such an amphibious drone is plentiful to say the least, including inspecting bridges, performing early investigations of oil spills, being involved in search and rescue missions, as well as to participate in warfare as and when required.

Right now, it is unable to carry a payload, and as radio signals do not work too well underwater, the existing prototype has to be attached to a thin cord in order for it to receive commands. It does seem as though the Navy would want to equip it with sonar detectors and cameras down the road.

Edwin Kee
Categories: Military, Robots
Tags: Drones