Japanese engineers from DIC Group in cooperation with Tokushima University and Hishida R&D have developed the HAGAMOSphere octocopter concept, which can fly in all directions without the need to tilt or rotate the body.

The drone is held in the air by eight rotors that are mounted at the tops of a cubic frame. At the same time, each pair of rotors on opposite tops has opposite thrust vectors.

Thanks to this design HAGAMOSphere can move equally efficiently forward, backward, left and right, without changing the orientation of the body in space. The frame together with the rotors is enclosed in a spherical shell, which provides protection from collisions with obstacles and also allows the drone to roll on the ground