The development of technology is reaching heights never seen before. Like, for example, this robot fairy Created by scientists from Tampere University, in Finland, under the name of FAIRY project (Fairy, in English).
FAIRY is the acronym for Flying Aero-robots based on Light Responsive Materials Assembly.
It is a flying robot that is based on light sensitive materials: the device, made of polymers, flies with the wind and is controlled by light.
Jianfeng Yang, Hang Zhang, Alex Berdin, Wenqi Hu, and Hao Zeng are the researchers working on the FAIRY Project. Their study, titled Light-Controlled Dandelion-Inspired Wind-Dispersed Polymer Assemblage, was published in the Wiley Online Library.
The result of the investigations
Polymers are, strictly speaking, large molecules made up of smaller ones called monomers. Their adaptability makes them used to create soft-bodied robots, controlled wirelessly on a small scale.
But the FAIRY scientists managed to controlled by light beams, such as a laser beam or an LED.
“We created a porous structure based on soft matter, capable of wind-assisted dispersal and take-off-landing action under the control of a beam of light”, Yang and his colleagues point out.
The design of the robot fairy is inspired by dandelion seed, with high porosity, light weight, and generation of separate vortex rings under constant wind flow.
“The results offer novel approaches to wirelessly controlled miniature devices, that can passively navigate a large airspace”, emphasize the scientists.
What would the robot fairy of the FAIRY project be used for?
What can be the uses of FAIRY? According to Hao Zeng, you can assume “an important step towards realistic applications suitable for artificial pollination.”
Millions of artificial dandelion seeds, with pollen, they would be dispersed by natural winds and then directed by light towards specific areas, like trees that need pollination, aim Europa Press portal.
“This would have a huge impact on world agriculture, since the loss of pollinators due to global warming has become a serious threat to biodiversity and food production,” Zeng points out.