Features characterizing safe aerial-aquatic robots

Features characterizing safe aerial-aquatic robots Andrea Giordano 1,2, Luca Romanello 2,3, Diego Perez Gonzalez 3, Mirko Kovac 1,2 and Sophie F. Armanini 3 Abstract --This paper underscores the importance of environmental monitoring, and specifically of freshwater ecosystems, which play a critical role in sustaining life and global economy. Despite their importance, insufficient data availability prevents a comprehensive understanding of these ecosystems, thereby impeding informed decision-making concerning their preservation. Aerial-aquatic robots are identified as effective tools for freshwater sensing, offering rapid deployment and avoiding the need of using ships and manned teams. T o advance the field of aerial aquatic robots, this paper conducts a comprehensive review of air-water transitions focusing on the water entry strategy of existing prototypes. This analysis also highlights the safety risks associated with each transition and proposes a set of design requirements relating to robots' tasks, mission objectives, and safety measures. T o further explore the proposed design requirements, we present a novel robot with VTOL capability, enabling seamless air water transitions.