With the ever-changing technology of robotics and their impact on the future, one thing is for certain – robots are here to stay. With this in mind, Arizona-based Revolute Robotics is introducing a new type of robot that can not only fly through the air, but drive and roll on the ground, allowing it to access areas and perform dangerous tasks that no other robot can.

Looking like it escaped from an episode of The Jetsons, the technology is essentially a drone-mounted inside a spherical exoskeleton with a special mechanism that allows the drone to roll on the ground when flying isn’t needed. According to CEO Collin Taylor, this allows the robot to drive for five times longer than it can fly because it isn’t expending energy to fight gravity, and if it needs to get around an obstacle or travel somewhere quickly, it switches back to flying. This makes it the ideal candidate for navigating confined spaces and complex environments as it can operate longer than a drone and can outmanoeuvre a rover.

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