Researchers in Singapore have designed a maple seed-inspired drone that is capable of flying for 26 minutes using just one rotor.
Scientists in Singapore have made a groundbreaking achievement after they developed a tiny maple seed-inspired monocopter drone capable of flying for nearly half an hour with a single rotor.The team of researchers, led by Foong Shaohui, PhD, an associate professor at the Singapore University Technology and Design , designed the state of the art monocopter, called SG60, a decade after completing SG50 Multi-Rotor Drone.
While the SG60’s predecessor managed 50 minutes of sustained flight, it was large, complex, and heavy. This prompted Foong and his team to explore simpler designs that could deliver better performance.So, rather than attempting to improve the efficiency of the SG50 drone, the team shifted its focus to nature. Drawing inspiration from the samara, the winged seed of the maple tree, the researchers developed a lightweight drone capable of fully controllable and efficient flight using just a single actuator.Where nature meets engineeringAccording to the associate professor, the 32-gram monocopter, which is lighter than a Snickers bar, can hover with full autonomous control for a total of 26 minutes, far surpassing typical drones in its class.“Achieving flight becomes increasingly inefficient as you scale down,” Foong commented, adding that small drones often struggle with endurance because their tiny propellers produce limited thrust while still consuming a significant amount of power. “Our goal was to overcome that constraint.”The team turned to samaras after observing how they gently spiral to the ground. This natural motion not only offered an effective aerodynamic model but also combined passive stability with efficient lift generation in a simple yet elegant design.“Every part of a maple seed contributes to lift,” Foong stated, elaborating on the innovative concept. “We took inspiration from that principle and built an airframe where nothing is wasted.”The drone spins its winged body using a single rotor, generating lift through a large airfoil and stabilizing via passive dynamics. With no flapping parts or gearboxes, the design remains simple and efficient. It was not inspired by AI.Tiny drone, massive powerThe monocopter’s success lies in an extensive design optimization process that combined aerodynamic theory with real-world testing. Using a data-driven algorithm, the team fine-tuned the wing shape, pitch, and mass distribution. The drone achieves stable flight with a power loading of 9.1 grams per watt, outperforming other micro air vehicles of similar size and weight. “It’s a first-of-its-kind achievement,” Cai Xinyu, a research fellow at the university, revealed. “We’ve demonstrated that with the right aerodynamic and system-level design, a tiny aerial robot can achieve endurance that rivals much larger systems,” Xinyu said, adding that size is no longer a limitation. The craft’s long flight time and simple design make it ideal for low-cost, long-duration missions. One potential use is as a lightweight, reusable radiosonde for weather monitoring. “The next step is to increase payload capacity and flight time without significantly increasing weight,” Xinyu shared in a press release, explaining that future work will focus on custom parts to boost the drone’s performance. Plans are now underway to explore advanced materials and integrate bio-inspired wing shapes into the design. “With further development, we see this technology playing a key role in a variety of established and emerging applications,” Foong concluded. “The sky is truly the limit!”The study has been published in the journal IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters.
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