有了這項技術(shù),蜜蜂有可能替代無人機
大家可能聽到過“拯救蜜蜂”的說法。嗯,從某個角度來說,蜜蜂如今或許正在拯救無人機。 上周二,華盛頓大學(xué)的工程師們宣布,他們設(shè)計出了“穿在”蜜蜂身上的無線平臺,以解決小型無人機電池壽命短的問題。 雖然無人機已經(jīng)成為未來科技的象征,但小型無人機有限的電池壽命一直是個問題,而作為自然界的飛行傳粉昆蟲,大黃蜂在空中停留的時間要長得多。 研究人員維克拉姆·伊耶、拉亞拉克什米·南達庫馬爾、安然·王、索耶·B·福勒和西亞姆納斯·葛拉柯塔將他們的發(fā)明稱為“活物聯(lián)網(wǎng)”——即安放在活昆蟲身上帶有傳感器和追蹤器的無線飛行平臺。此前該團隊一直在研究另一個代號為RoboFly的昆蟲飛行平臺。 該平臺的傳感器組件帶有一塊微型可充電電池,最多可支持7小時的飛行。它重量很輕,只有102毫克——大約相當于7粒生大米。 伊耶是華盛頓大學(xué)電子和計算機工程系博士生。他在接受NBC News采訪時說:“我們決定使用大黃蜂是因為它們夠大,能攜帶為我們的系統(tǒng)供電的微型電池?!?/p> 葛拉柯塔稱,這些蜜蜂每次能飛行一小時左右,而且和無人機不同,它們還能感覺到周圍有什么東西。 葛拉柯塔對NBC News表示:“操控無人機時你是在到處亂飛,蜜蜂則會被特定事物吸引,比如它喜歡傳粉的植物。而且除了認識環(huán)境,你還可以了解到很多跟蜜蜂行為有關(guān)的東西?!?/p> 通過幾次試驗,這些工程師們現(xiàn)在用天線來追蹤蜜蜂并發(fā)出信號。這些蜜蜂總是在蜂巢附近是件好事。白天它們一直收集數(shù)據(jù),等蜜蜂回巢時,電池就會充電,數(shù)據(jù)也會發(fā)送給研究人員。 這幾位研究者認為他們設(shè)計的平臺可能還有助于弄明白蜜蜂數(shù)量減少的原因。蜜蜂總數(shù)正在迅速減少,而且已經(jīng)引發(fā)蜜蜂滅絕可能會威脅到食品行業(yè)的擔憂。 葛拉柯塔說:“現(xiàn)在我們可以通過傳感器來了解蜜蜂在野外的行為。也許我們能弄清楚為什么蜜蜂正走向滅絕。我們現(xiàn)在有了鳥瞰視角,可以觀察蜜蜂體會到或感覺到的東西?!?/p> 這些工程師還承諾,他們的新時尚科技對蜜蜂來說很安全?!罢麄€過程非常簡單。我們所做的只是給它們帶了個小背包,攜帶這個背包對這些蜜蜂來說輕而易舉。它們可以飛來飛去,完全沒有問題?!保ㄘ敻恢形木W(wǎng)) 譯者:Charlie 審校:夏林 |
You’ve probably heard the phrase “save the bees.” Well, the bees may be saving the drones—sort of. On last Tuesday, engineers at University of Washington announced that they have designed wireless platforms to be worn by bees, in an effort to solve the issue of poor battery life on smaller drones. Although drones have become a symbol of future technology, the limited battery life on small drones has been a constant issue. The bumblebee, nature’s flying pollinator, can stay in the air a lot longer. The researchers, Vikram Iyer, Rajalakshmi Nandakumar, Anran Wang, Sawyer B. Fuller, and Shyamnath Gollakota call their invention Living IoT—a flying wireless platform with sensors and trackers that rides live insects. Previously, the team had worked on another insect flight platform dubbed the RoboFly. The sensor package is a small rechargeable battery that lasts up to seven hours of flight and is light on the insect, weighing 102 mg or around the weight of seven grains of uncooked rice. “We decided to use bumblebees because they’re large enough to carry a tiny battery that can power our system,” said Iyer, a doctoral student in the UW Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in an interview with NBC News. Gollakota said not only can the bees fly around for hour at a time, they can also sense what’s around them unlike drones. “With a drone, you’re just flying around randomly,” he said to NBC News, “while a bee is going to be drawn to specific things, like the plants it prefers to pollinate. And on top of learning about the environment, you can also learn a lot about how the bees behave.” Following multiple trials, the engineers track the bees through antennas and broadcast signals. And it does help that bees are always close to their hive. The bee collects data throughout its daily flight and as it returns to the hive, the battery recharges and researchers are sent the data. The researchers think their design could also help understand the reason behind the decline in the bee population. The population of bees is rapidly decreasing, which has led to fears that without them, our food industry could be in danger. “With the sensors, now we can understand bees’ behavior in the wild,” said Gollakota. “We can potentially understand why these bees are going extinct. Now we have a bird’s-eye view of what the bee is feeling or sensing.” The UW engineers promise the tiny creatures are safe with their new fashionable tech. “The whole process is very simple. All we are doing is just putting on a tiny backpack, and it is very easy for these bees to carry. They go and fly around and are completely fine.” |