Researchers may have created the "triple-threat" of drones.
"Imagine a mission where you have to covertly fly into an area, traverse through water, across land, and overcome obstacles along the way. That might seem impossible with a single unmanned vehicle. How could one vehicle overcome so many terrains and obstacles? That would take a team of unmanned aerial, undersea, and ground vehicles, right?" Sandi National Laboratories wrote on their website.
The answer is "false." The Multi-Modal Vehicle may be able to do just that.
The vehicle would have appendages that could act as either wings or fins and wheels that can bounce 30 feet into the air, Wired reported.
The drone's missions could be controlled by far-away remote control, or it could conduct its business "semi-autonomously."
"The real value added [of the Multi-Modal Vehicle] is that it allows maximum flexibility in highly complex missions without the concern over whether or not all of the vehicles are positioned just right," Jon Salton, a Sandia engineer working on the project, told Wired.
The talented vehicle could possibly carry out missions usually touched only by Special Operations.
"[Multi-Modal Vehicle] should be at least be able to substantially enhance the capabilities of Special Ops," Salton said.
A current mission of this caliber would require aerial, ground, and undersea vehicles; most likely all manufactured by different companies that use varied communication systems. The Multi-Modal Vehicle could combine all of these things into one.
"The [Intelligent Systems, Robotics, & Cybernetics (ISRC)] has built and conducted limited testing on conceptual hardware, and while the concept may appear to be off in the distant future, our testing has shown that this concept could soon be a reality," the Sandi National Laboratories website stated.
The company hopes to find funding to build the drone prototype by "approaching industry partners" Wired reported.
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