Dandelion-Inspired Windsurfing Sensors: A Breakthrough in Nano Engineering and Sciences

Researchers at the nano engineering and sciences building have made a groundbreaking discovery in the field of nano engineering. They have created a new type of sensor that is inspired by the natural world, specifically the dandelion seed. This innovation has the potential to revolutionize the way we detect and measure environmental changes. The researchers have successfully developed a system that can automatically disperse these sensors in the wind, mimicking the natural dispersal mechanism of dandelion seeds.

The process for making these tiny sensors begins with a laser, which is inspired by the natural variation between individual seeds. The team has developed a program that can generate different patterns on the sensors, including fill patterns, diameters, and sizes. This ensures that the different designs will spread out to different distances, allowing them to cover a large area. One of the challenges in designing these battery-free devices was ensuring that they always land with their solar panels facing up. The researchers noticed that if you have a completely filled-in disk of material, like an elm seed or other leaves, it will repeatedly flip over and you don't know what orientation it's going to land in.

In contrast, dandelion seeds have a bristly structure that allows air to flow through the center, ensuring that they always fall upright. The researchers realized that if they could replicate this design, their sensors would be more efficient and effective. To achieve this, they cut out the shapes of these dandelion-inspired devices, which will now serve as the foundation for their sensors.

Once the shapes have been cut, it's time to add the electronics. The current prototype has a variety of different sensors that the researchers have tested for measuring things like temperature, humidity, and pressure. They have also attached an accelerometer, which detects motion in objects, and a magnetometer, which detects magnetic fields. One of the cool features of this system is its ability to detect a car as it drives by.

The core part of this system is something that can easily be adapted to many different applications. The researchers are excited about the potential for their sensors to be used in various fields, such as environmental monitoring and disaster response. When building things at this scale, every little bit of weight matters, so the team has had to think carefully about how to minimize the weight of each component.

To achieve this, they have designed a complex system that includes a capacitor, which buffers up energy from the solar cells, a microcontroller, and various sensors. The capacitor stores a little bit of energy continuously, allowing the system to take sensor readings and send them wirelessly when there is enough power available. This is made possible by a tiny circuit that ensures the system can start up even with very little energy.

The final component of the system is a switch that activates backscatter, allowing the sensors to transmit information wirelessly. The entire device weighs between 30 to 50 milligrams, making it light and compact enough for a drone to carry. Researchers have successfully demonstrated how these dandelion-inspired sensors can be dispersed by wind, mimicking the natural dispersal mechanism of dandelion seeds.

The researchers explored various methods for retrieving the disks, including using a consumer drone converted into a prototype drop system. They observed how the wind naturally disperses these devices with occasional hiccups and found that they fell out from time to time. However, the team is also exploring other options, such as making these electronic devices more sustainable.

Researchers are working on developing biodegradable materials for their sensors, including building a functional prototype mouse that is 90 percent biodegradable by mass. Another area of interest is modulating the shape of these devices as they fall and controlling where they land. This will add another layer of complexity to the system but also opens up new possibilities.

The researchers hope that their innovations will have far-reaching implications for various fields, from environmental monitoring to disaster response. As we move forward with this technology, it's essential to consider the broader applications and potential impact on society. With its unique design and innovative features, this dandelion-inspired sensor system is poised to revolutionize the way we detect and measure changes in our environment.

In addition to the environmental benefits, these sensors also have practical uses in various fields such as agriculture, construction, or even sports. The researchers are excited about the potential for their technology to be used in a wide range of applications, from detecting pollutants in waterways to monitoring weather patterns.

The future of this technology is bright, and it's exciting to think about what other innovations will emerge from this research. As we continue to explore the possibilities of dandelion-inspired sensors, we can expect new breakthroughs and discoveries that will shape our understanding of the natural world and our place within it.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enwe're here in seattle at the university of washington here to check out tiny battery-free sensors that float in the wind inspired by the humble dandelion let's check it out so if you think about any large open space where you'd want to deploy lots of sensors for precision agriculture applications or temperature sensors to monitor things like forest fires environment and climate change type scenarios right what we've done here is figured out a way to automatically disperse them in the wind inspired by nature at the nano engineering and sciences building we got a glimpse of how these dandelion inspired windsurfing sensors can be made into unique shapes fitted with tiny electronics and dropped from the sky to cover a large area the process for making these tiny sensors begins with a laser kind of inspired by how you have natural variation between individual seeds we actually have a program that can generate different patterns like this for example we can generate different types of fill patterns different diameters and sizes to vary how fast these things are going to fall so the different designs will spread out to different distances an added challenge in designing the shape of these battery-free devices was ensuring that they always land with their solar panels facing up what we noticed is if you have a completely filled in disk of material like this right similar to how you have some natural seeds like this elm seed or other leaves that you see what happens is as they fall they'll repeatedly flip over and you don't know what orientation they're going to land in by comparison if you look at dandelion seeds that have the same bristly sort of structure that allows some air to flow through the center these are always going to fall in the same upright orientation kind of like in in badminton the badminton shuttlecock will always you know turn and orient the same way once the dandelion shapes have been cut it's time to add the electronics our current prototype has a variety of different sensors that we've tested for measuring things like temperature humidity pressure you can attach what's called an accelerometer that's the same sort of thing that detects motion in your phone magnetometer to detect magnetic fields one of the cool things we're able to do with that is we can actually detect a car as it's driving by the core part of this system is something that you can easily adapt to lots of different applications for people who are building new kinds of sensors when you're building things at this scale you really have to think about every little bit of weight that you're adding this is our our whole circuit all of our electronics this is a capacitor this is buffering up it's storing up a little bit of energy from our solar cells so if our solar cells are providing enough power continuously we can charge up just a little bit to be able to take a sensor reading and send it out wirelessly the next little circuit that we have here this makes sure that our system can actually start up even when there's very little little energy available and then it will trigger our little microcontroller here our computing chip to actually do the operations that we want the next chip that we have here is a tiny temperature and humidity sensor we also have a light sensor here the last chip that we have here this is a switch which is what we use for backscatter and so that's how we're transmitting information from this thing wirelessly this whole thing weighs depending on exactly which which sensors we put 30 to 50 milligrams according to vikram these dandelion inspired sensors are small and light enough that a drone could carry 1000 of them we headed outside to see how that might work using a consumer drone converted into a prototype drop system we saw how the wind naturally disperses these dandelion inspired sensors with the occasional hiccup yeah they fell out for now the discs are made of plastic and need to be retrieved by hand but vikram and his team are also exploring other options one thing that i'm really interested in is uh trying to make these these kinds of electronic devices more sustainable can we build these sorts of systems using biodegradable materials we could easily make this disk structure out of say paper or something like that researchers recently put out a paper that describes their progress in trying to build more sustainable electronics including the building of a functional prototype mouse that they say is 90 percent biodegradable by mass but the team behind these dandelion inspired sensors have more than just sustainability in mind for their next steps the other thing that we're excited about is right now these you know these devices they always maintain the same shape as they fall right but what if we could change them as they're falling can we you know can we modulate the shape and control where it's going to land this will also be a really interesting capability and it has lots of new engineering challenges as well where um beyond just the sensing component we also have to add some kind of actuator that can you know that can actively change the shape as it's moving thanks so much for watching hope you enjoyed this video i'll put links to all the studies we mentioned down in the comments below if you want to see more what the future videos check out this playlist right here subscribe to cnet for more tech news and see you on the next onewe're here in seattle at the university of washington here to check out tiny battery-free sensors that float in the wind inspired by the humble dandelion let's check it out so if you think about any large open space where you'd want to deploy lots of sensors for precision agriculture applications or temperature sensors to monitor things like forest fires environment and climate change type scenarios right what we've done here is figured out a way to automatically disperse them in the wind inspired by nature at the nano engineering and sciences building we got a glimpse of how these dandelion inspired windsurfing sensors can be made into unique shapes fitted with tiny electronics and dropped from the sky to cover a large area the process for making these tiny sensors begins with a laser kind of inspired by how you have natural variation between individual seeds we actually have a program that can generate different patterns like this for example we can generate different types of fill patterns different diameters and sizes to vary how fast these things are going to fall so the different designs will spread out to different distances an added challenge in designing the shape of these battery-free devices was ensuring that they always land with their solar panels facing up what we noticed is if you have a completely filled in disk of material like this right similar to how you have some natural seeds like this elm seed or other leaves that you see what happens is as they fall they'll repeatedly flip over and you don't know what orientation they're going to land in by comparison if you look at dandelion seeds that have the same bristly sort of structure that allows some air to flow through the center these are always going to fall in the same upright orientation kind of like in in badminton the badminton shuttlecock will always you know turn and orient the same way once the dandelion shapes have been cut it's time to add the electronics our current prototype has a variety of different sensors that we've tested for measuring things like temperature humidity pressure you can attach what's called an accelerometer that's the same sort of thing that detects motion in your phone magnetometer to detect magnetic fields one of the cool things we're able to do with that is we can actually detect a car as it's driving by the core part of this system is something that you can easily adapt to lots of different applications for people who are building new kinds of sensors when you're building things at this scale you really have to think about every little bit of weight that you're adding this is our our whole circuit all of our electronics this is a capacitor this is buffering up it's storing up a little bit of energy from our solar cells so if our solar cells are providing enough power continuously we can charge up just a little bit to be able to take a sensor reading and send it out wirelessly the next little circuit that we have here this makes sure that our system can actually start up even when there's very little little energy available and then it will trigger our little microcontroller here our computing chip to actually do the operations that we want the next chip that we have here is a tiny temperature and humidity sensor we also have a light sensor here the last chip that we have here this is a switch which is what we use for backscatter and so that's how we're transmitting information from this thing wirelessly this whole thing weighs depending on exactly which which sensors we put 30 to 50 milligrams according to vikram these dandelion inspired sensors are small and light enough that a drone could carry 1000 of them we headed outside to see how that might work using a consumer drone converted into a prototype drop system we saw how the wind naturally disperses these dandelion inspired sensors with the occasional hiccup yeah they fell out for now the discs are made of plastic and need to be retrieved by hand but vikram and his team are also exploring other options one thing that i'm really interested in is uh trying to make these these kinds of electronic devices more sustainable can we build these sorts of systems using biodegradable materials we could easily make this disk structure out of say paper or something like that researchers recently put out a paper that describes their progress in trying to build more sustainable electronics including the building of a functional prototype mouse that they say is 90 percent biodegradable by mass but the team behind these dandelion inspired sensors have more than just sustainability in mind for their next steps the other thing that we're excited about is right now these you know these devices they always maintain the same shape as they fall right but what if we could change them as they're falling can we you know can we modulate the shape and control where it's going to land this will also be a really interesting capability and it has lots of new engineering challenges as well where um beyond just the sensing component we also have to add some kind of actuator that can you know that can actively change the shape as it's moving thanks so much for watching hope you enjoyed this video i'll put links to all the studies we mentioned down in the comments below if you want to see more what the future videos check out this playlist right here subscribe to cnet for more tech news and see you on the next one\n"