Unmanned seaplane takes off and lands on water
An unmanned seaplane with a 7-ft wingspan developed at the University of Michigan was inspired by flying fish.
The autonomous craft is
said to be the first that initiates and
performs its own takeoffs and landings
on water. The seaplane, which
is funded by the Defense Advanced
Research Projects Agency (Darpa),
advances the agency’s “persistent
ocean surveillance” program.
“We studied sea birds seriously,”
says Guy Meadows, director of the
U-M Marine Hydrodynamics Laboratories.
“They’re all about the
same size — about 20 pounds with
a 2-meter wingspan. Aerodynamically speaking, that’s a sweet spot
for flying close to the water. Our
plane is about the size of a pelican.”
The onboard Global Positioning
System alerts the craft when
it has floated too far, triggering
a takeoff sequence that gets the
plane airborne in just 10 meters.
Other GPS coordinates initiate
the landing sequence.