Multi-responsive microflier inspired by wind-dispersed seeds

In nature, many plants have evolved to disperse seeds via wind. Inspired by this, we have developed a microflier based on multi-responsive soft actuator. The soft actuator exhibits sensitive responses to various stimuli, including humidity, temperature, applied voltage, and light, resulting in significant deformation rates of up to 105°/s. When exposed to light, the microflier opens its fiberglass “pappus” during descent, increasing air drag and prolonging falling time by 105 %. By adjusting the deformation angle of the “pappus” under different light intensities, the terminal falling velocity of the microflier can be easily controlled. Importantly, due to the excellent aerodynamic characteristics, the designed microflier is capable of achieving wide-area dispersion with the assistance of slight air currents. These results provide new insights for the development of wireless controlled artificial microfliers and are crucial for applications such as environmental monitoring and large-scale distributed data collection.