Scientists harness the wind as a tool to move objects

Researchers have developed a way to maneuver objects round with a jet of wind. The brand new method makes it potential to control objects at a distance and might be built-in into robots to present machines ethereal fingers.

The analysis is published within the journal Superior Clever Methods.

“Airflow or wind is everywhere in our living environment, moving around objects like pollen, pathogens, droplets, seeds and leaves. Wind has also been actively used in industry and in our everyday lives—for example, in leaf blowers to clean leaves. But so far, we can’t control the direction the leaves move—we can only blow them together into a pile,” says Professor Quan Zhou from Aalto University, who led the research.

Step one in manipulating objects with wind is knowing how objects transfer within the airflow. To that finish, a analysis crew at Aalto University recorded 1000’s of pattern actions in an artificially generated airflow and used these to construct templates of how objects transfer on a floor in a jet of air.

The crew’s evaluation confirmed that though the airflow is mostly chaotic, it is nonetheless common sufficient to maneuver objects in a managed manner in several instructions—even again in direction of the nozzle blowing out the air.

“We designed an algorithm that controls the direction of the air nozzle with two motors. The jet of air is blown onto the surface from several meters away and to the side of the object, so the generated airflow field moves the object in the desired direction. The control algorithm repeatedly adjusts the direction of the air nozzle so that the airflow moves the objects along the desired trajectory,” explains Zhou.

“Our observations allowed us to use airflow to move objects along different paths, like circles or even complex letter-like paths. Our method is versatile in terms of the object’s shape and material—we can control the movement of objects of almost any shape.”

The technology nonetheless have to be refined, however the researchers are optimistic in regards to the untapped potential of their nature-inspired method. It might be used to gather objects which might be scattered on a floor, akin to pushing particles and waste to assortment factors. It may be helpful in advanced processing duties the place physical contact is unattainable, akin to dealing with electrical circuits.

“We believe that this technique could get even better with a deeper understanding of the characteristics of the airflow field, which is what we’re working on next,” says Zhou.