A New Kind of Robot Swims the Seas and Soars the Skies

This 250-Gram Robot Can Swim Underwater Then Fly into the Sky Using Its Flapping Wings Like a Diving Bird

The bird-fish hybrid could one day be used to study aquatic animals underwater and then fly back to the base with data.

Engineers build flapping-wing robot that can both fly and swim

Experts spend years trying to build robotic systems that can both fly and dive. Puffins do it without a second thought. Inspired by nature, engineers at MIT and EPFL in Lausanne, Switzerland, have created a new “flapping-wing aerial-aquatic vehicle” (FAAV). The robot weighs less than 300 grams and is designed with a central fuselage, two flexible wings, and a steerable tail.  In field tests across Lake Geneva, the machine swam through the lake b…

A new kind of robot swims the seas and soars the skies

Inspired by diving birds, roboticists built the lightweight machines to move from water to air. The design may one day lead to robots that can monitor and sample the coastal ocean.