It's a bird, it's a plane...well, more of a spinning parachute, but really it's a droppable robot boat

The ALBATROSS, a sailboat drone prototype developed by researchers at Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), lacks the aerial grace of its avian namesake. It doesn't so much fly as plummet – an unsettling start to a sea launch, more so because it's designed to spin like a maple leaf seed as it descends. The sailboat drone's rotation slows its fall and minimizes its impact with the water.