Nature-Inspired Inventions · Volume 011
Dandelion Seeds
Passive Aerial Sensor Dispersal
A dandelion seed head holds well over a hundred seeds, each attached to a tiny parachute of fine bristles. When the wind blows, the seeds lift off and drift away. Most land within a few metres, but some travel much further, and in the right conditions a few may travel very long distances. The dandelion achieves this with a structure that is mostly empty space: a ring of thin filaments with gaps between them, weighing a fraction of a milligram.
- Price
- $6.99
- Format
- PDF ebook
- Length
- 32 pages
- Edition
- First Edition
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Inside this volume
- Introduction: A Parachute Made Mostly of Air
- How Dandelion Seeds Fly
- Structure of a Dandelion Seed
- The Physics of Slow Descent
- Research and Applications
- Translating Dandelion Flight Into Engineering
- Materials and Manufacturing
- Electronics for Dispersed Sensors
- Ten Dandelion-Inspired Design Concepts
- Testing Dispersal Devices
- Failure Modes and Limitations
- Approval, Ethics and Market
- Design Workbook
- Case Study — Mapping Microclimate in a Vineyard
Plus appendices of formulas and rules of thumb, common reader questions, a glossary and further reading.
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