--- title: "Watch NASA’s Truck-Mounted Cannon Shoot Drones Into the Sky" description: "A team of researchers from the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory designed a drone (SQUID) that can be shot high up into the sky using a special cannon." date: "2019-11-21" modified: "2019-11-21" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/cannon-shoot-drones-sky-nasa-squid" categories: - "Drones" - "NASA" - "Robotics" - "Robots and Machines" - "Space" tags: - "drones" - "quadrotor" - "the digest" --- # Watch NASA’s Truck-Mounted Cannon Shoot Drones Into the Sky ![A team of researchers from the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory designed a drone (SQUID) that can be shot high up into the sky using a special cannon.]() *\Image: Caltech/JPL\* ## Bam A team of researchers from Caltech and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory designed a drone that can be shot into the sky using a special vehicle-mounted cannon, [*The Verge* reports](). The goal is to launch drones when it's otherwise too dangerous or windy — or in emergency situations where the usual method is simply too slow. The Streamlined Quick Unfolding Investigation Drone (SQUID) is a football-shaped foldable quadcopter that weighs roughly a pound. It features four spring-loaded arms with rotors attached to them that pop out after being fired from a moving vehicle. https://youtu.be/sQuKJfllyRM ## Self-Righting Once the drone reaches its apex of about 33 feet, it can automatically orient itself and become functional like any other drone, [according to *IEEE Spectrum*](). A [paper]() about the project was uploaded to the preprint repository *arXiv* earlier this month. The team is hoping to scale SQUID's design both up and down, with smaller and larger variations. The largest could be large enough to even carry a substantial payload. ## Drone Planet And their ambitions are off-world, explaining NASA's interest in the project. "While the SQUID prototype, as outlined in this paper, has been designed for operation on Earth, the same concept is potentially adaptable to other planetary bodies, in particular Mars and Titan," reads their paper. **READ MORE:** [This transforming drone can be fired straight out of a cannon]() \[*The Verge*\] **More on drones:** *[A “Flying Saucer” Design Lets Drones Fly Twice as Long]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()