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This video is adapted from 10.3390/biomimetics6020023
Maple trees (genus Acer) accomplish the task of distributing objects to a wide area by producing seeds, known as samaras, which are carried by the wind as they autorotate and slowly descend to the ground. With the goal of supporting engineering applications, such as gathering environmental data over a broad area, researchers developed 3D-printed artificial samaras. Here, researchers compare the behavior of both natural and artificial samaras in both still-air laboratory experiments and wind dispersal experiments in the field. Researchers show that the artificial samaras are able to replicate (within one standard deviation) the behavior of natural samaras in a lab setting. Researchers further use the notion of windage to compare dispersal behavior, and show that the natural samara has the highest mean windage, corresponding to the longest flights during both high wind and low wind experimental trials. This video demonstrated a bioinspired design for the dispersed deployment of sensors and provides a better understanding of wind-dispersal of both natural and artificial samaras.