Limerick mother's misunderstanding leads to space-age drone breakthrough

A mother on the phone trying to explain the work of her professor son was the spark for an invention that could be used on future space missions.

Little did 82-year-old Limerick woman Delia Hinchey know that her misunderstanding would lead to her being credited as a co-author on a US patent for space-age drones.

Her son, Prof Mike Hinchey is a director of Lero, the Irish Software Research Centre. He came up with an idea for a drone-based repair system after hearing his mother in conversation.