Photo: www.newscientist.com
Lynn Rothschild of NASA’s Ames Research Center in California believes he could solve the last problem drones are facing, which is the fact they can be detected in case of crash. The scientist created a world’s first, a “biological drone” largely built out of materials from living things.
The unique drone made its inaugural flight earlier this month and it’s currently under development.
Imagine you’re spying on you neighbor's pool party, taking a glimpse at the girl next door and her friends playing volleyball and wearing bikini swimsuits. Or even better think of yourself living next to the auto factory in Goodwood, UK, and you send your drone over the palisade to see the future Rolls-Royce Wraith Sport, (probably ahead all of us). What will you do in case it crashes and they catch you spying?
Now, leaving all the jokes behind, this bio-drone is obviously intended for the army, in order to escape from the enemy’s hands, say the drone is failing its mission and it crashes. “No one would know if you’d spilled some sugar water or if there’d been an airplane there,” Rothschild explains.
They still need to figure out some parts
According to the interview he took for New Scientist, the bulk of the prototype is made of a root-like fungal material called mycelium. It was grown in a custom drone shape by Ecovative Design, a company in Green Island, New York that is specialized in harvesting lightweight and sustainable materials.
The mushroom body is protected by a sticky cellulose cover grown by bacteria in the lab. Circuits were printed in silver nanoparticle ink, in an effort to make the device as biodegradable as possible.
However, the team has still some parts they need to figure out, such as finding the right materials for the propellers, controls and battery which in this case were all standard.
The mushroom body is protected by a sticky cellulose cover grown by bacteria in the lab. Circuits were printed in silver nanoparticle ink, in an effort to make the device as biodegradable as possible.
However, the team has still some parts they need to figure out, such as finding the right materials for the propellers, controls and battery which in this case were all standard.
Google News