NASA's Flying, Swimming, Rolling Drone
Shapeshifter Exploring New Distant Worlds Source: NASA/CalTech Concept Source: NASA Drone of Drones NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab at Caltech has just introduced the drone of drones. Right now, it separates into two different units: two shapes to explore new distant worlds and new habitats. It's a prototype and is made of several small, quadcopter drones calls cobots. The cobots have propellers and fly independently and the system reassembles to roll on the ground. The future for the concept is much bigger. The Shapeshifter would be made up of a number of small robots that can easily self-assemble into larger robots and disassemble as the mission requires, particularly in space. The mini-robots will be able to fly, roll, float and swim and then morph into a single machine. Morphing Robots On the ground, the cobots come together to form a roller-wheel like drone to explore the ground in places in space like Titan, where there is very l...