Scientists develop tiny aquatic drones with mind-blowing features: 'A world of opportunities'
Small eco-friendly drones have been developed to monitor water quality, and when their mission is done, they can serve as fish food.
A team of scientists at Switzerland's École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne designed these 5-centimeter-long, motorboat-shaped craft to glide across the surface powered by nontoxic chemical reactions, according to Interesting Engineering.
Not only do they collect data on water quality, but they're also safe for fish to eat once the job is done.
They're constructed from ground-up fish feed pellets, which are freeze-dried into shape. Inside this edible hull, a small chamber contains a harmless mix of citric acid and baking soda that generates carbon dioxide as water slowly seeps in through a semipermeable gel plug.
That reaction then pushes out a stored supply of nontoxic propylene glycol, which helps propel the drone swiftly through the water at a rate of up to three times its body length per second.
The report explained that expelled glycol helps drive the craft forward through a process called the Marangoni effect. This alters the surface tension of the water and is commonly used by insects such as the water strider.
Underwater drones have already been deployed in some areas to help people manage fish populations and prevent overfishing. However, those are controlled remotely and must be collected after scanning the area.
A previous project from EPFL researchers involved a tiny aquatic robot that was inspired by marine flatworms to help explore marine environments without disturbing them.
This new development aims to send out these tiny biodegradable drones for data-gathering missions, and when equipped with sensors, they could measure things such as water temperature, pH levels, and pollutant concentrations and transmit the data back wirelessly. With 4 billion people on the planet lacking access to potable water, eco-friendly research on water quality is critical for human health.
The key here is that when the job is done, the drones will absorb water, soften, and eventually sink, leaving behind a small feast that's safe for fish to eat.
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The development of biodegradable sensors for ecological monitoring has yet to be resolved, although there has been promising research in the field.
In 2022, the world generated over 68 million tons of electronic waste, and that number is rapidly increasing. At the current rate, it's on track to rise another 32% to 90 million tons annually by 2030.
Only about 9% of that e-waste is being recycled, with most of it ending up in landfills. Not only are billions of dollars' worth of resources being squandered, but toxic materials can leach into waterways and soil, causing health issues and ecological damage.
"The replacement of electronic waste with biodegradable materials is the subject of intensive study, but edible materials with targeted nutritional profiles and function have barely been considered, and open up a world of opportunities for human and animal health," said professor Dario Floreano, who led the EPFL study, per Interesting Engineering.
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