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Seed-inspired vehicles take flight

Many plant seeds have shapes that aid their efficient dispersal by wind. Inspired by these seeds, a range of fliers have been constructed that could have applications from environmental monitoring to wireless communication.
  1. E. Farrell Helbling

    1. E. Farrell Helbling is in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA.

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In a paper in Nature, Kim et al.1 report 3D fliers that are inspired by the passive, helicopter-style wind-dispersal mechanism of certain seeds. The adopted production processes enable the rapid parallel fabrication of many fliers and permit the integration of simple electronic circuits using standard silicon-on-insulator techniques. Tuning the design parameters — such as the diameter, porosity and wing type — generates beneficial interactions between the devices and the surrounding air. Such interactions lower the terminal velocity of the fliers, increase air resistance and improve stability by inducing rotational motion. When combined with complex integrated circuits, these devices could form dynamic sensor networks for environmental monitoring, wireless communication nodes or various other technologies based on the network of Internet-connected devices called the Internet of Things.

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Nature 597, 480-481 (2021)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-02490-x

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Competing Interests

The author declares no competing interests.

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