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Tiny Robot Propellers

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One of the most tangible reflections of technological progress in our daily lives, undoubtedly, is the shrinking sizes of many devices we use. Even if you are not a tech-wiz, you must have noticed that the microchips, which form the backbone of electronic devices in particular, keep getting smaller while their skills and capacities increase at the same time. Take telephones, televisions, and computers. Tremendous advances in nanotechnology have of course played a great role in such advances. However, there is another actor.

Scientists often take inspiration from nature when developing new techniques and technologies. Biomimicry is a method that provides effective solutions by taking advantage of the efficiency that nature has evolved through millions of years of natural selection, and the use of this method becomes increasingly popular. Airplanes inspired by bird wings, diving suits inspired by shark skin, Velcro inspired by the burr seeds that annoyingly adhere to your socks, and even cities designed with inspiration from natural ecosystems are among the best examples of this approach.

This time, inspired by maple seeds, scientists have developed the world’s smallest flying microchips. Although their motion may not exactly be described as “flying”, as they merely catch the wind and spin like tiny propellers towards the ground, with the new design that extends their gliding time considerably, researchers report that the study has paved the way for developing a highly functional array of “flying” robots equipped with miniature sensors that are able to analyse environmental conditions such as pollution or track diseases by examining particles in the air.

The devices, currently produced as prototypes by a team of scientists from the Northwestern University of Illinois, can collect environmental data as they glide in the air with the help of their specially designed wings. Besides, they are only the size of a grain of sand (Propeller-shaped maple seeds called “samaras” have evolved this shape in order to be carried as far as possible by the wind. But they are, of course, much larger than a grain of sand.)

John A. Rogers, the team’s leader, says that when dropped from certain heights in large quantities, these microfliers could be used, for example, to measure the levels of air pollution at different altitudes, monitor the status of environmental disasters such as oil spills, or estimate the number of ultraviolet rays. Each unit contains a tiny power supply, data-collecting sensors, a memory that stores this data, and an antenna that sends findings to a receiver.

Of course, one may wonder about the possibility of these devices polluting the environment, despite their tiny sizes. After all, maybe millions of miniature propellers will be dropped from the sky. As a solution, the scientists suggest that the materials used in manufacturing these devices can be produced from a kind of “biodegradable” raw material that will cause no harm to nature by easily dissolving through chemical or physical processes. “We fabricate such physically transient electronics systems using degradable polymers, compostable conductors, and dissolvable integrated circuit chips that naturally vanish into environmentally benign end products when exposed to water,” says Rogers. Recently, a similar approach that could ease the life of heart patients was on the agenda for the production of new generation pacemakers.

The next goal of researchers is to produce similar devices with different designs, such as microbots flying in the wind like dandelion seeds.

 

REFERENCES

  • 1. https://www.popsci.com/technology/maple-seed-microchips-monitor-environment/
  • 2. https://www.sciencealert.com/the-smallest-flying-device-ever-made-by-humans-is-like-a-grain-of-sand