The Mirs-X is a drone that can fly like a quadcopter but also operate underwater. It is autonomous and could be used for search and rescue operations.

Meet the Mirs-X, a classic quadcopter drone that flies and can dive underwater to transform into a submarine. The submersible plane was developed by researchers from theChinese University of Hong Kong. It is intended to be used for search and rescue missions or technical inspections. This could be useful, for example, to inspect a ship as a whole, both outside and below its waterline.

The Mirs-X is lightweight. It weighs 1.63 kilograms and measures 38 centimeters wide. We can say that it is more comfortable in the water than in the sky, since its autonomy in the air is limited to only six minutes. Instead, underwater it can evolve for about forty minutes. However, its movement in the marine environment is still limited, since it can only maintain its watertightness to a depth of just three meters. The Mirs-X can also be used for surface navigation.

In this video, the Mirs-X evolves at the bottom of a pool, then extracts itself to fly. © The New Scientist, YouTube

Variable Geometry Rotors

To perform these different modes, the drone directs its four motors. They head up to fly, but in the water anything is possible. To descend to depth, the rotors are directed downward. If it is necessary to turn and move slowly downhill, two opposing rotors will tilt at the necessary angle to ensure turns. Always underwater, it can also lean on its side with the rotors pointing forward to achieve straight lines at a speed of two meters per second. The drone is equipped with floats and its camera is under a dome placed on top of the drone. As a bonus, the scientists have ensured that the drone is fully autonomous to carry out its missions. The device must be presented at the International Conference IEEE 2023 on Robotics and Automation to be held at the end of May-beginning of June in London, UK.

The Mirs-X is not the first drone to have both aerial and aquatic capabilities. Futura had already presented a Chinese drone that could also save energy thanks to a suction cup system. Other more or less elaborate drones are also capable of submerging underwater.