It can fly in the air and swim in the water. The small aircraft can easily switch between water and air seamlessly. Recently, a prototype of a water-to-air cross-domain cruiser called "TJ-FlyingFish" has been reported by international science and technology magazines such as New Scientist and North American New Atlas.
"TJ-FlyingFish" is an innovative result jointly developed by Tongji University's Shanghai Autonomous Intelligent Unmanned Systems Science Center (hereinafter referred to as the "Science Center"), the National Key Laboratory and the Chinese University of Hong Kong team. This is a new amphibious aircraft that flies like a drone in the air and operates like a submersible after entering the water.
According to the R&D team, multiple unmanned platforms with functional differences that can operate in sea, land, air and other space domains are formed into an organic whole, so that they can share and integrate information, interact and coordinate behaviors, and coordinate tasks with each other. Achieving functional complementarity through cooperation will greatly enhance the overall unmanned system's ability to respond to cross-domain complex environments, and will play a very important role in improving global synaesthesia guidance technology. However, between the two media of water and air, it is difficult to achieve effective information transmission between cross-media nodes using traditional communication technology, which restricts the cross-domain collaboration of unmanned systems in this scenario.
"Developing an unmanned platform with cross-domain shuttle and patrol capabilities so that it can act as a messenger in a cross-domain collaborative system and realize information transmission and interaction between cross-media nodes is an effective means to solve cross-domain collaboration of unmanned systems. Therefore. , the team developed the water-air cross-domain cruiser prototype 'Tongji Feiyu'." A member of the R&D team told reporters that the "TJ-FlyingFish" adopts a four-rotor configuration design equipped with a water-air dual-purpose propulsion unit and a rudder tilting mechanism. It weighs 1.63 kg and has a wheelbase of 380 mm. It has cross-domain shuttle capabilities and dual-domain cruising capabilities. It can hover in the air for 6 minutes and cruise underwater for about 40 minutes.
The different hydrodynamic properties of the two media, water and air, put forward completely different requirements for the propeller working range and the overall working balance point of the system. In response to the problem of cross-media propulsion, the cruiser is equipped with a micro two-speed gearbox to switch the propeller working range to adapt to different media environments, greatly simplifying the structure and reducing weight, while ensuring operating efficiency in the two media; aiming at the system balance point Problem, based on the traditional rotorcraft, the cruiser increases the degree of freedom of the rudder surface tilting, changes the direction of the thrust vector underwater to switch the system working mode, and satisfies the influence of the water and air media on the system balance point through structural changes. Different requirements greatly improve cross-domain controllability and mobility.
In addition, the cruise vehicle is equipped with a cross-domain positioning and navigation system consisting of GPS, inertial measurement unit (IMU), depth meter and micro-Doppler velocity meter (DVL), which can be used in underwater, air and cross-media processes. automatic control capabilities.
"New Scientist" commented in the report: "The prototype of the water-air cross-domain cruiser can freely switch between water and air media. It can serve as an irreplaceable communication node between two unmanned systems. Strengthening the integration and sharing of information, it can also be independently used in scenarios such as cross-domain detection, remote sensing, and disaster relief."
It is reported that "Tongji Feiyu" can also "join forces" with a series of intelligent equipment such as the underwater "Moray" and "Popeye" soft robots developed by the science center, and is expected to support major strategies and needs such as national marine security and resource exploration.
