Four Danish engineering students have captured global attention with their groundbreaking 3D-printed drone that can fly through the air and swim underwater, switching between both with ease.
The drone has the potential to reshape search-and-rescue missions, as well as ocean research.
The innovative machine was built by applied industrial electronics students Andrei Copaci, Pawel Kowalczyk, Krzysztof Sierocki and Mikolaj Dzwigalo at Aalborg University.
It became an internet hit through viral videos showing the drone taking off from beside a pool, diving underwater, swimming around and then flying back up into the air without any help from humans.
The secret is in how the drone’s propellers work. The blades can change their angle depending on whether the drone is in air or water. When flying, the propellers tilt to create lift.
When underwater, they flatten out to cut through the water better and can even spin backward to change direction quickly.
This smart design lets the waterproof drone go from flying to swimming and back again in one smooth motion. Unlike other similar projects that need complex moving parts to transform, this drone keeps things simple but effective.
The students built their creation as part of their final college project.
They used 3D printing and computer-controlled cutting machines to make the parts, showing how modern tools can help students build amazing things.
The team also wrote their own software to control how the drone moves and designed it so parts can be easily swapped out if needed.
Associate Professor Petar Durdevic from the university’s drone research group helped guide the project.
The work has been praised as a great example of what students can achieve when they get hands-on experience with real engineering problems.
What made this project really take off was the video footage.
The clips show the drone smoothly moving between air and water from different angles, proving it can do this trick over and over again.
The videos spread quickly across Instagram, YouTube, and tech news sites, impressing viewers with how seamless the transitions look.
The viral clips typically show the same sequence: the drone lifts off near a swimming pool, smoothly enters the water, swims around with precision, then shoots straight back up into flight mode.
While other researchers have built drones that work in both air and water, this Danish project stands out because it’s simpler and more reliable.
Instead of using complicated mechanisms that transform the drone, the team solved the problem with better propeller design that works well in both environments.
Though still just a prototype, the technology could be useful in many real-world situations. Search and rescue teams could use one device to search from the air and then dive down to help people in the water.
Companies that need to inspect ships or offshore structures could check both the parts above and below water in one mission.
Scientists studying marine life could use the drone to follow animals or study areas where air and water meet. Military and security forces might find the ability to switch between flying and swimming useful for surveillance missions.
The project has gotten attention from engineering teachers and robotics experts worldwide as proof that students can create genuine breakthroughs, not just classroom exercises.
The combination of 3D printing, computer-controlled manufacturing and custom programming shows how today’s engineering students can turn ambitious ideas into working prototypes.
This story originally appeared on NYPost
