MIT Unveils Puffin-Inspired Robot That Flies and Dives to Explore Oceans
TL;DR Summary
MIT engineers built a lightweight, puffin-inspired robot capable of both flight and underwater swimming. The craft uses a 34.5-inch wingspan, waterproofed components, and a motorized tail; in air it flaps at 5–6 Hz and can sprint above the water, while underwater it uses its wings to swim and stays level without sinking. Weighing about 250 g, it can fly about 6 km on a full charge and swim roughly 2 km underwater. Tested in a lab tank and Lake Geneva, the team envisions using the robot to study coral reefs, track fish, and monitor algae, potentially carrying it to remote sites to collect samples or data.
- MIT Engineers Create Robot That Can Fly and Swim newsforkids.net
- New Winged Robot Can Fly and Swim Like a Puffin The New York Times
- New flapping robot swims and flies like a diving bird MIT News
- First bird-scale robot to swim, dive, and launch back into flight New Atlas
- This MIT robot flies through the air then dives underwater using the same wings TechSpot
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