Samaras — the winged seeds of maple trees — spin gracefully to the ground, their thin, membrane-like wings creating aerodynamics that slow descent and let the wind carry them far from the parent tree.
At Singapore University of Design and Technology, Cai Xinyu and colleagues have spent years replicating this natural mechanism, developing a biomimetic robot that harnesses samaras’ flight dynamics even more effectively.
Record-Breaking 26-Minute Flight for Seed-Inspired Monocopter
Their latest breakthrough set a new benchmark: a 32-gram monocopter that hovers under full autopilot for 26 minutes, the longest flight ever achieved by a biomimetic drone—its only limit being battery life.
“Flight efficiency drops sharply at small scales. Miniature drones suffer from low thrust despite low drag, yet still burn significant energy. Our aim was to overcome that,” explained team leader Professor Foong Shaohui.
Fortunately, nature had already provided the solution. It took the team a decade to reproduce the samara’s intricate design. “Every component of a maple seed plays a role in generating lift. We embraced that idea and engineered a fuselage where every element serves a purpose,” said Shaohui.
The enhanced wing design was achieved with the aid of artificial intelligence, which evaluated numerous optimization strategies, allowing the team to explore a vast range of configurations without physically building and testing each one.
Single-Actuator Design Turns Entire Body into a Rotating Wing
Unlike standard quadcopters that manage multiple rotors, the monocopter operates with a single actuator. This motor drives the aircraft’s entire wing-shaped body, spinning it to maintain stability through passive dynamics while generating lift via a large airfoil.
With no moving joints, gearboxes, or complex linkages, the structure remains simple yet highly efficient. It hovers at 9.1 grams per watt, outperforming other micro aerial vehicles of similar size and mass.
Small Drone Matches Endurance of Larger Aircraft
“This is a landmark achievement,” said Xinyu. “With optimized aerodynamics and system design, we’ve shown that a small flying robot can match the endurance of much larger machines—proving that size doesn’t have to be a limitation.”
The prototype was assembled using off-the-shelf components, but the team now intends to create custom parts to push the monocopter’s performance even further.
“Our next goal is to boost payload capacity and extend flight duration without adding much weight,” Xinyu explained. “We also plan to experiment with advanced materials and wing shapes inspired by nature.”
Read the original article on: Inovacao Tecnologica
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