Wireless sensors can be used to collect information such as temperature, humidity and other environmental data across areas of land such as forest and farmland.
The collected data has applications in areas such as agriculture, conservation and climate change monitoring.
Deploying sensors can be challenging in terms of both cost and time, especially over large tracts of land, but a team of researchers from the University of Washington has designed a solution based on the way that dandelion seeds drift in the breeze.
The team came up with sensor-carrying devices that can be deployed by drone and then drift around the surrounding area.
The devices are actually around 30 times heavier than a dandelion seed, but clever design allows them to drift for around 100 metres after being released.
For their starting point, the researchers used a 2D projection of the central point of a dandelion seed, which is also surrounded by little bristles to slow its fall.
With the added weight of the device, the synthetic bristles started to bend inwards, so the researchers also added a ring structure for strength.
They tested 75 different designs to find the one that produced the smallest terminal velocity, meaning that it had the lowest maximum velocity while floating to the ground.
Devices can transmit sensor data using backscatter
The design of the solar-powered devices also allowed them to land with their miniature solar panels facing upwards 95% of the time.
The device holds at least four different sensors and can share data up to 60 metres away.
It uses a technique known as ‘backscatter’, which sends information by reflecting transmitted signals, to wirelessly get the data back to researchers.
The devices only collect data in sunlight and need a certain amount of energy to get started when the sun comes up in the morning.
A built-in capacitor is able to store a small amount of power and a small circuit measures the amount.
As additional energy comes from the solar panels, the rest of the system kicks in when a certain threshold is released.
Senior researcher Shyam Gollakota described the devices as “transformational” as the prototype showed that thousands could be deployed in a single drop.
This could take months using current deployment methods.
One potential issue is the environmental impact that the devices could have after their working life.
The team is currently looking at how to make the sensors more biodegradable.
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