Two very different projects. Same kind of engineering instinct.
The upper clip uses a cockroach with a very minimal mechanical setup. The lower one takes a quadcopter and surrounds it with tracked frames so the same machine can move on land, travel through water and take off into the air.
What caught my eye is how both designs start from a physical behavior instead of adding layers of software.
For the air land water drone the engineering tradeoff is especially interesting. Flying helps with obstacles and speed. Driving can save battery when the terrain allows it. Water mobility gives the same platform another route when roads disappear.
Of course, every extra mobility mode adds weight, moving parts and harder control transitions.
Still I like this direction. Build the machine around the environment it has to cross.
I’m still wondering what the cockroach project in the top clip is actually meant to do though. Does anyone know the intended use case?