Abstract
The field of aerial-aquatic robotics promises tremendous benefits in data collection as well as unmatched flexibility and remote access. However, the majority of existing aerial-aquatic robots are unable to perform scientific tasks at significant depth, limited by the weight penalty that any pressure resistant container would add. In addition, sealing of an actuated robot is difficult, again adding significant weight to small systems. Wireless communication is a major challenge for underwater robots and certainly poses great constraints to operation at distance. Lastly, underwater propulsion is often highly inefficient due to geometries optimised for flight [109]. Indeed, most aerial-aquatic vehicles either have severely limited water range and operation, stay in very shallow waters or function only in de-ionised water. Too often, the benefit of underwater locomotion is overshadowed by the weight, and complexity increases that are required for reliable operation. This negatively impacts flight performance.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
The acronym MAV was originally suggested for flying vehicles below 15 cm by DARPA. However, the term has by now been used extensively in research to describe small-sized lightweight aircrafts that exceed this dimension but are still significantly smaller than planes.
- 2.
Pixracer R14 from mRobotics.
- 3.
Simulation results obtained from A. Ortega.
- 4.
Combination of wing and aileron.
- 5.
- 6.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Zufferey, R., Siddall, R., Armanini, S.F., Kovac, M. (2022). Sailing and Flying with a Multimodal Robot. In: Between Sea and Sky: Aerial Aquatic Locomotion in Miniature Robots. Biosystems & Biorobotics, vol 29. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-89575-4_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-89575-4_11
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-89574-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-89575-4
eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)