Swiss team wants to fight climate change with biobased drones

In Switzerland, researchers at the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology have developed a mostly biodegradable drone that could be used to monitor remote eco-systems scientists can’t—or shouldn’t—physically access.

Such inexpensive, low-impact tools could be useful in monitoring the effects of climate change, according to the team from the organization’s Laboratory of Sustainability Robotics. The prototype is comprised of starch, agar, gelatin, and wood waste, and only the electronics portion of the machine isn’t biodegradable.

“In this specific example, the structure, as well as the printed environmental sensors, are fully de-gradable. Most of the drone’s components can be left in the environment targeted for monitoring, and one-way missions are enabled,” said Fabian Wiesemüller, one of the project leads. “Furthermore, the biobased materials used generally have a smaller environmental footprint and make the device more sustainable.”

In tests, most of the drone’s wings had biodegraded within 14 days, with the sensing skin following a few weeks later.

“In the next step, we want to incorporate other transient sensors, that can provide more information on the environment. This includes indicators such as relative humidity, UV intensity as well as pollutant levels,” Wiesemüller said. “Furthermore, we are working towards substituting more and more non-degradable components such as the battery with transient electronic components.”