Of all of the weird and wonderful ways nature creates resilient bodies, perhaps the most underappreciated is simply being so squidgy your problems just bounce off you. Well, a group of biomimicry researchers from Swiss university EPFL are taking note, and have created a soft, crash-proof drone modeled after the flexible bodies of insects.
According to IEEE Spectrum, the scientists were inspired by a unique joint found in wasp wings. These joints allow the creatures’ wings to stay stiff during flight, but “reversibly crumple” in the case of a crash — saving the thin membranes from tearing. The EPFL researchers didn’t copy this system exactly for their quadcopters, but paired a flexible external frame with a magnetic coupling system that joins the frame to the central body. In the event of a crash the body pops out of the frame before clicking back into place.
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, or even use Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for MakeCode, CircuitPython, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell with Google Hangouts On-Air is every Wednesday at 7:30pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.
