A self-burying three-tailed seed carrier could improve the germination of seeds dropped by aerial technologies such as drones.
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University in the US designed the wood veneer device, which features three ‘arms’ and a seed carrier with a sharp point, based on the seeds of the Erodium genus of flowering plants.
They tested it under laboratory conditions, using a commercial drone with a special box containing multiple seeds, programmed to release when reaching a target height.
Design features aid burying
The carrier demonstrated an 80% germination rate on flat ground, after its coiling and uncoiling mechanism was twice triggered by moisture fluctuations in the environment. The result was a marked improvement on natural Erodium seeds, which had extremely low establishment rates.
The efficacy of the innovation rests on its very high curvature and the resting angle of its tail, the researchers wrote in the journal Nature.
“The topology of the three-tailed design helps secure an initial angle between the tip and the ground, which is critical to generating effective torque and thrust force to increase the chance of successful drilling,” they explained.
Testing under outdoor conditions saw reduced success in seed anchoring and establishment, however, suggesting that modifications will be needed before the design is commercialised.
“We expect that further optimization of the seed tips could improve their resilience to harsh environments and hostile climate effects, such as extreme flooding or drought,” they wrote.
“The influence of soil types and surface roughness needs more quantification in the future, to tailor our designs and increase the success rate.”
Wider applications
Aerial vehicles are expected to play an increasing and broad role in food production, as part of the digitisation of ‘agriculture 4.0’. Maximising their effectiveness is essential in increasing uptake.
In this case, the carriers’ payloads could include seeds alongside natural fertilisers such as mycorrhizae, or nematodes, all of which offers “promising implications for agriculture, reforestation and natural conservation in environmentally degraded regions,” the scientists explained.
The design principles used in the work could also be applied in a far broader range of settings. These could include sustainable robotics and structures adapted to climate change, they noted, with wood offering an alternative to synthetic materials which are generally used in environmentally-triggered technologies.
“For the purpose of scaling up, a further optimization of the manufacturing process and life cycle analysis will be needed,” they added.
