scientists from National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology of Japan have developed small drones that can pollinate flowers in the same way that bees do in nature.

The drones are remote controlled and are about the size of a tennis ball with four small propellers to propel them. The surface of the drone is made up of animal fur that mimics bristles and collects pollen. By successively flying over plants, the mechanism is able to transfer substances from one flower to another – exactly the same procedure for animals, such as birds and insects.

The video below shows how this device works.

A team led by a chemist Eijiro Miyako developed the project, taking care of a global ecosystem in which the population of bees is declining. The reasons are varied, from the use of pesticides to radical changes in the habitat of these animals. This shortens the pollination process and therefore one of the most traditional forms of plant propagation – also in the case of multiple stands.

The researchers are confident that drones can help meet this pollination demand, which doesn’t mean the bees will be completely expendable: the idea is to help this fauna recover with technology. “We need pollination. If this system collapses, it will be terrible,” Miyako tells the site. Science news.

The “bee apocalypse” has been predicted and feared by scientists from different parts of the world for several years now, who are also developing other projects to at least partially replace the activity of these animals.

At the moment, the study is just an article and a prototype, but the trials carried out so far are considered successful. Future versions of the dter pollinator drone should have autonomous and more precise control, work via GPS, and even add artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities, which will allow the equipment to work simultaneously with a fleet of one hundred units.

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Source: Science Direct.

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