A team of students from Stanford University, Brown University and Spelman College developed a working prototype of a biological drone that can safely degrade into the environment when it crashes \u2013 reducing potentially damaging effects another layer of high-flying, easily crash-able tech can have on the environment.<\/p>\n
The team of students built the unmanned aerial vehicle for iGEM 2014 or the International Genetically Engineered Machine Competition, and collaborated with researchers from NASA\u2019s Ames Research Center as well as Green Island, New York-based materials science company Ecovative Design to design, model and produce the prototype bio-inspired drone.<\/p>\n
The main component or the chassis of the drone is made of a material called mycelium, a root-like fungal material developed by Ecovative Design, which is dedicated to producing home-compostable bioplastics made out of the material.<\/p>\n
Ecovative Design cultivated the material in a quadcopter-shaped body. The body had a \u2018protective covering\u2019 made of sticky cellulose sheets that were grown in bacteria in a lab. The sheets were coated with a protein cloned from the saliva of paper wasps. The research team also worked with startup AgiC Inc. to print the circuits in silver nanoparticle ink on the cellulose-based materials. The team aimed to make most of the parts of the drone biodegradable.<\/p>\n
Though most of its parts are biological, the drone still needed a few non-biological parts to help it fly. The biological drone took its brief maiden flight during iGEM 2014 with the help of controls and propellers from a standard quadcopter. The biological drone also ran on a standard battery.<\/p>\n
According to a post on New Scientist, the team\u2019s next challenge is to make the drone sensors safe and biodegradable as well. They are studying the feasibility of using E. coli bacteria to build the sensors.<\/p>\n
All the 3D-printable files of the biological unmanned aerial vehicle concept are available for download from the team\u2019s web page. Images of the biological parts and the concept designs are also posted on the project page (and some below).<\/p>\n