It's a bird, it's a plane...well, more of a spinning parachute, but really it's a droppable robot boat

The ALBATROSS, a sailboat drone prototype developed by researchers at Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), lacks the aerial grace of its avian namesake. It doesn't so much fly as plummet – an unsettling start to a sea launch, more so because it's designed to spin like a maple leaf seed as it descends. The sailboat drone's rotation slows its fall and minimizes its impact with the water. This eliminates the engineering challenge of implementing hardware for two modes of mobility. There's no need for landing gear, actuators, or sensors to manage both flying and floating. Watch and download graphics and videos of ALBATROSS here. Developed by SUTD researchers Shane Kyi Hla Win, Danial Sufiyan, Brian Leonard Suhadi, Luke Soe Thura, Xinyu Cai, Wei Jun Ang, and Shaohui Foong, the ALBATROSS represents an achievement in both acronym construction and engineering. …