Hardware Podcasts

Episode Thirty-Six: Ignazio Maria Viola

Robot Talk · 10 Feb 2023 · 18m · Episode 36

What this episode covers

Professor Ignazio Maria Viola from the University of Edinburgh discusses his ERC Consolidator Grant Dandidrone project, which applies bio-inspired fluid mechanics to create unpowered, dandelion-inspired drones for swarm sensing. He explains the aerodynamic challenge of flying at insect scale, highlighting the discovery of a stable 'separated vortex ring' enabled by the seed's porosity. Viola details the structural engineering hurdles, noting that conventional manufacturing produces objects 100 times heavier than the 0.6mg target, requiring collaboration with Heriot-Watt University and biomedical fabrication techniques. The episode covers applications for environmental monitoring, including air quality sampling and crop health assessment, using biodegradable or self-consuming sensors.

Most relevant to

early-stage companies

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
University of Edinburgh, Heriot-Watt University, University of Washington
Products
Dandidrone
Also
UK Robotics Network

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