Students have developed an innovative drone that can fly in the air and dive into water without difficulty, thanks to special propellers that change angle
A video shows the drone in action.
A group of students from Aalborg University in Denmark created a prototype hybrid drone for their undergraduate thesis.
This drone can quickly transition from flying in the air to moving in water.
In the video shared by the students, the drone takes off next to a pool, dives into the water, moves for a few seconds below the surface, and then emerges from the water to fly again.
The video shows the drone repeating this movement several times, at different angles.
Students Andrei Copaci, Pawel Kowalczyk, Krzysztof Sierocki, and Mikolaj Dzwigalo, who are studying applied industrial electronics, achieved this feat using variable-pitch propellers.
These propellers have blades that rotate at different angles to adapt to air or water.
“The development of a drone that works in both air and water is a major breakthrough in robotics, demonstrating that a single vehicle can operate well in both environments thanks to variable-pitch propellers,” the students said in a joint email to *Live Science*.
It’s not the first, but it’s special
This isn’t the first hybrid air-water drone.
In 2015, researchers at Rutgers University in New Jersey created a similar prototype.
In 2023, Chinese scientists also demonstrated a drone with this capability.
Even so, the Danish students’ work is impressive for its efficiency.
The project was developed over two semesters under the guidance of Professor Petar Durdevic, who leads the Drones and Offshore Robots research group at Aalborg University.
The students began by creating a model of the drone and designing the variable-pitch propeller system.
In the air, the propeller blades are set at a greater angle to generate more airflow.
In water, the angle is lower to reduce resistance and increase efficiency.
The propellers can also generate negative thrust, which improves maneuverability in the water.
To build the drone, the team used a 3D printer and a computerized numerical control machine, which is an automated manufacturing device.
They also programmed the drone with special software.
Then, they moved on to testing.
“We were surprised by how smoothly the drone transitioned from water to air,” the students said.
What is this drone used for?
For now, the drone is just a prototype, but the technology has many potential real-world uses.
“Some applications include military use, vessel inspection, marine exploration, search and rescue,” the students explained.
This invention could be useful in situations such as emergency response or even war operations, demonstrating the potential of drones that move easily between air and water.
Published in 07/26/2025 04h48
Text adapted by AI (Grok) and translated via Google API in the English version. Images from public image libraries or credits in the caption. Information about DOI, author and institution can be found in the body of the article.
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