Washington, Dec. 13, 2018: Here is an ingenious way of using Internet of Things (IoT) technology. A research team at the University of Washington, USA has created a sensing system that is small enough to ride aboard a bumblebee.
According to a report on the University’s news Website, because insects can fly on their own, the package requires only a tiny rechargeable battery that can last for seven hours of flight and then charge while the bees are in their hive at night.
The research team will present its findings at the ACM MobiCom 2019.
While using insects instead of drones solves the power problem, this technique has its own set of complications – First, insects can’t carry much weight. And second, GPS receivers, which work well for helping drones report their positions, consume too much power for this application. To develop a sensor package that could fit on an insect and sense its location, the team had to address both issues.
Co-author Vikram Iyer investigated how a bumblebee performed with the sensor package attached to its back. The news report quoted him as saying that they had decided to use bumblebees because they’re large enough to carry a tiny battery that can power our system, and they return to a hive every night where they could wirelessly recharge the batteries.
For the rest of the report, click here.
Here’s a video:
Image & Video: Courtesy University of Washington