Amphibious drones are in high demand for underwater search and rescue as well as environmental monitoring missions. Conventional devices such as submarines and professional divers are cumbersome to transport, complicated to operate, and accompanied by notable safety hazards, leaving room for improved alternatives. This study presents Waterwing, a self-developed amphibious quadcopter capable of aerial flight, underwater locomotion and real-time video recording. The drone can navigate autonomously to designated sites and fully submerge without manual control. It is integrated with rotatable waterproof servos, a fully sealed electronic compartment and a wireless camera for real-time environmental observation. A PID control system and complete electromechanical modules are also adopted to guarantee stable and consistent operation. The prototype was firstly modeled in SolidWorks, then manufactured and assembled, with repeated iterative modifications to optimize its overall performance. Indoor and outdoor testing results verified that the refined prototype operates stably in both aerial and underwater scenarios, fully fulfilling the design requirements for practical underwater application scenarios.

Katherine Xu. Waterwing: An Aerial-Underwater Quadcopter Drone for Underwater Purposes. International Journal of Frontiers in Engineering Technology (2026), Vol. 8, Issue 2: 22-29. https://doi.org/10.25236/IJFET.2026.080204.

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