The underwater drone market continues to grow, with an increasing number of consumers looking to underwater drones for personal use.
It's no longer just the military and scientists etc, who are interested in using them for activities like observing underwater volcanoes, investigating unexplored areas of the ocean, or tracking whales etc. Now there are many people out there who want to use them in order to film videos, to document their travels in a new way, and to explore under the water on their own.
One Interesting drone development...
The US navy is now reportedly working on the Flying Sea Glider (see image above); the development of a pelican-like drone that will be able to be dropped from a plane and then dive into the water. They expect to be testing their full sized model by sometime next year.
The drone will weigh around 30 kilograms, will be able to fly a distance more than 150km, and will have the ability to convert into a submarine when it lands in the water. Once the drone gets in the water, it will allegedly be able to travel up to depths of around 200 meters.
The hope is that one day groups of these sorts of submarine drones might be used to help locate a crashed airplane or to possibly track an oil spill. The navy is also allegedly using them in order to try and locate mines and to survey underwater obstacles.
They don't just want to be able to drop the drone and have it turn into a submarine and glide into the water but they also want it to be able to then take off from the water and fly. But of course that task is proving to be a somewhat tricky one and it will be interesting to see what development they come up with to release by next year.
The underwater drones aren't the only exciting drone project that we've seen mentioned that the navy might be working on either. There has also been mention of them wanting to develop swarms of micro drones that would work together in unison to carry out some mission. And we've already seen what this might look like. The idea of many drones working together in unison is something that has already been unveiled to the world, during the Superbowl halftime show, and at a variety of festivals and celebrations.
At the moment, there are a myriad of different underwater drones available to be purchased and you could spend anywhere from several hundred to several thousand dollars, depending on what sort of drone you want to go with.
The navy has already been successful with a small test version of the Flying Sea Glider but they won't have a full sized version of it ready to unveil until sometime next year.
Pics:
Dr Dan Edwards/Naval Research Laboratory
Pixabay
Intel
Sources:
http://www.janes.com/article/69319/navy-league-2017-nrl-furthers-flying-sea-glider-effort
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2139875-next-gen-drones-will-fly-and-dive-into-the-sea-like-pelicans/
https://defensesystems.com/articles/2017/04/17/cicada.aspx
https://steemit.com/technology/@doitvoluntarily/the-drone-that-fits-into-the-palm-of-your-hand
http://www.shoppersshop.com/intel-drones-formed-american-flag-and-pepsi-logo-at-20720171
Related Posts:
Growing Demand For Underwater Drones
https://steemit.com/technology/@doitvoluntarily/growing-demand-for-underwater-drones
Drone Market Looking Toward The Sea
https://steemit.com/science/@doitvoluntarily/drone-market-looking-toward-the-sea
Navy Looks To Using Swarms of Palm-Sized Drones
https://steemit.com/technology/@doitvoluntarily/navy-looks-to-using-swarms-of-palm-sized-drones
Pelidrone!
That is cool, a pelican drone that goes under water. Technology these days are amazing! Great post!
Sweet and I would be interested to know how much water pressure it could sustain bevause we all know the deepest, deepest depths of the sea are still largely unknown. Who knows what's lurking down there....
i like the drones going underwater and can think of many applications -thanks for posting - i enjoy bodysurfing and snorkeling too , anything with water suits me .
Wow, that's amazing. Would it be awful for me to admit that the drones they're coming up with actually kind of scare me because of how advanced they are. Haha, what's next, real AI?
I will take two. Crazy future we live in. @doitvoluntarily, Steem On Friend.
Red Alert 3 is becoming a reality day by day, now i if we could just get the mine laying dolphins we're set.
Soon they will have a drone to silently deliver a magnetic mine to attach to the bottom of an enemies ship!!
This topic actually gets into residential security. You can make a home that defends against drones for example. You should have a weapon to destroy them too.
Drones will keep getting smaller and more capable. People should expect them to be more and more of a privacy issue in the future.
I hope we won't have to start worrying about getting bludgeoned with water drones when trying to enjoy the ocean soon.
More weapons for the arsenal of peace.
I feel safer already.
Technology is advancing so rapidly now it's mind blowing what can be done now, next drone will be delivering pizza lol, cheers..great post!
That is amazing I didn't even know that was happening technology is at an all time high, I have a yuneec drone its amazing and I just can't believe all the different things drones are being used for. Thanks for a great article once again😊🌺
This will help in understanding the aquatic life-cycle a lot.