Meet MantaDroid: the aquatic drone | Unifly

Drone technology has seen some major developments the last few years, with drone manufacturers unveiling and testing passenger-carrying drones, Airbus' delivery drone project, cargo drone projectsand Facebook's Aquila drone. The MantaDroid in action Image source: freshgadgets.nl Researchers at the National University of Singapore recently created an underwater ‘drone’ which moves and looks like a manta ray, allowing it to blend in in its aquatic surroundings. It’s designed for underwater surveillance and marine biodiversity studies. The drone measures in at 35 centimeters long, 63 centimeters wide and it weighs in at 700 grams. It can swim at a speed of 0.7 meters-per-second for up to 10 hours. The drone’s flexible fins are made from polyvinyl chloride (PVC) sheets, instead of propeller-based thrusters used in ordinary autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), which allows a longer range of operation. The fins are attached to a flat, wide body to mimic the appearance of a manta ray. The

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