That's not what I'm thinking of really - I should have been clearer - I was thinking more of something like the Mars Curiosity rover - autonomous drones, not necessarily aerial, probably solar powered, able to roam around on their own for months/years at a time looking for interesting stuff.
* https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12326425
Quite a long way in the past.
* https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17496989
* https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-44806069
* https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-4...
* https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17526492