AV News: Water Landing Drone

Researchers in Canada recently debuted a drone that could potentially fly autonomously for days or weeks at a time!!!

It’s called the SUWAVE which stands for Sherbrooke University Water-Air Vehicle – and it can take off from the water just like a duck!

The Fixed wing design, which is more efficient for long range flights, was created by Researchers at the University of Sherbrooke in Canada to basically use lakes as landing pads!

Then it’s able to liftoff again right out of the water! The 584-gram drone crash lands in the lakes with about 15 G’s of deceleration which it is designed to handle. It can then use its solar panels to recharge, and take off again thanks to its ingenious hinged propeller!
This side by side comparison show how regular seaplanes, on the left, are prone to capsizing in rough water. But even if the SUWAVE capsizes, it can right itself and take off again in a jiffy! With approximately 9 percent of Canada's 10 million sq km (3.8 sq mi) covered in lakes, the drone would only need to be fitted out with a 20-km range (12.4 mi) to be able to hop across the country from North to South. The hope is that this prototype can lead to future renditions that would be able to fly autonomously for long distances to do things like monitor forest fires or fetch water samples from far way lakes on long multiday missions.

Further testing is ongoing to evaluate the drones commercial potential.