Engineers from Imperial College London have built autonomous “flying 3D printer” drones, which could protect people from nuclear waste.
The drones can “print” a sticky foam on dangerous objects before attaching themselves and lifting the hazard away.
The engineers hope that the drones will one day be capable of printing nests in treetops to enable them to rest and recharge before continuing.
A hexacopter (which has six rotors) then takes the quadcopter’s place, landing on the sprayed object and waiting for the foam to set.
Then the hexacopter flies off, with the foreign object attached to its underbelly.
The researchers hope this process will be particularly useful for removing hazardous materials, such as nuclear waste.
