Developed by engineers at Northwestern University, the chips do not have a motor or engine and instead catch flight on the wind. In a similar way to maple tree seeds, the chips use the wind to spin like a helicopter through the air toward the ground.
By studying maple trees and other types of wind-dispersed seeds, the engineers optimised the microflier’s aerodynamics to ensure that it falls at a slow velocity in a controlled manner when dropped at high velocity.
This behaviour stabilises its flight to ensure dispersal over a broad area and increasing the amount of time it interacts with the air, making it ideal for monitoring air pollution and airborne disease.
A 3D microflier sits next to a common ant to show scale
The engineers believe they are the smallest-ever human-made flying structures...