Get ready to have your mind blown! 🤯 Chinese researchers at Beihang University have just unveiled the world's smallest and lightest solar-powered drone, and it's nothing short of amazing!
Meet the CoulombFly, a drone that weighs a mere 4.21 grams and has a wingspan of just 20 centimeters. That's lighter than a sheet of paper! 📝 But don't let its tiny size fool you—this little guy can soar indefinitely as long as the sun is shining. Talk about endless summer vibes! 🌞
So, what's the secret sauce? 🍝 The CoulombFly uses an innovative electrostatic motor instead of the traditional electromagnetic ones. This means it's super efficient even at such a small scale. And get this—the team invented a lightweight boost converter that kicks the voltage up from less than 100 volts to a whopping 9,000 volts! That's a 92% higher step-up ratio than similar tech from Stanford University. Take that, Silicon Valley! 😎
The possibilities are endless with this micro marvel. Imagine swarms of these micro aerial vehicles (MAVs) buzzing around for photography, disaster relief, or environmental monitoring. 🌍📸 Not only do they offer new perspectives, but they could also be lifesavers in critical situations.
Sure, the current prototype can only carry limited payloads, but the team is super optimistic about future advancements. They're already aiming to build an even smaller drone that weighs just 9 milligrams with an 8-centimeter wingspan. Tiny but mighty! 💪
Their groundbreaking work has been published online in the journal Nature, so you know it's legit. 📚
Excited about the future yet? We sure are! Strap in, because the skies are about to get a whole lot more interesting. 🚀
Reference(s):
cgtn.com
