The smallest man-made flying structure: civilian use and military perspectives
Engineers at Northwestern University of Illinois (USA) have added a new feature to electronic microchips: flight.
The new flying microchip, the size of a grain of sand, doesn't have an engine, but it has a propulsion system. Instead, it catches the wind - just like the winged seeds of a maple tree and rotates like the blades of a helicopter in autorotation mode. And if the wind blows, or the seed gets into the ascending air currents, then the "combat range" can increase significantly.
By studying the seeds of maple trees scattered by the wind, engineers have optimized the aerodynamics of natural propellers to ensure they glide at low speed and in a controlled manner when dropped from great heights. This mode stabilizes the flight, thereby ensuring dispersal over a wide area. This is said to make the design ideal for monitoring air pollution and airborne diseases.
The device is a tiny chip integrated in the center of the microfiber blades.
Thanks to the latest technology, such microcircuits can become full-fledged electronic devices with sensors, power supplies, wireless antennas and built-in memory for storing information.
This is a civilian development. I can suggest an alternative application in the military sphere:
- to spread across a large territory of the enemy sensors and sensors (acoustic, radiation, electromagnetic),
The goal of the development team is to create a flying device that can continue gliding for as long as possible in order to effectively collect the necessary information.
.- to plant radio (optical) tags on the equipment of a potential enemy;
-to initiate a short circuit in transformers, power lines, other infrastructure of the enemy used for military purposes or dual-purpose purposes according to the control signal.
But you never know what other options are lurking in the format of the military prospects of this development ...
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