The design of an umbrella that did not change for 1,000 years may change.
Cute ladybird with black dots in red. It is said that it may be useful not only for cute but also for industrial products such as robotic, satellite dish, microscope etc. Especially the umbrella we use for rainy days. The research team of the University of Tokyo says the application may be very effective for this.
Institute of Industrial Science, the University of Tokyo of Kazuya Saito In a study assistant professor announced to the United States National Academy of Sciences has been written about that the mechanism of how the ladybug how the body a long feathers than their own body length will be folded into.
"The primary goal of this research is to use it to secure storage space for solar panels and reflective antennas so we are interested in all the insects that have folding feathers, In comparison, ladybirds are also good at flying and are frequent to fly, I believe that folding systems of ladybugs' wings are very good, I think that this is a potential for engineering field "
S a i t o Explaining
In order to explore further potential, we had to research how to fold back feathers that were hidden behind (about red and black dots on the surface of the feathers). Mr. Saito and the team seemed to try using various technologies to know the secret behind back of it.
"I first tried using a 3D printer to make an artificial transparent sheath spring, but it was very difficult to artificially make thin, transparent feathers."
After that Mr. Saito Assistant Professor, took a picture with a high-speed camera and tried to reproduce it by watching the motion of the wing, but it was not enough to clarify that as well.
After that, the team secretary suggested "How about the UV resin used in nail art?", He succeeded in making a sheath spring with transparent resin. Because we used resin, we have a soft one though there is the strength. I transplanted the Spring manually into the Ladybird. Because the sheath spring made from resin is transparent, we can now observe the movement of folding back feathers.
This video was posted by New Scientist
What professor found was quite awesome content. When he observed using CT scan, It rolled up the feathers like folding backward and folded up. And the feather has a structure like a spring to store energy, I found out that it stretched out at once and flew away. You can see that the movie spreads smoothly as you watch the movie.
"Even though it is such a complicated structure, there is no knot on the edge of the wing.While there is usually a lot of nodes and hard parts that have a structure that changes such a shape, the strength of the lady's wings to fly is It was soft enough like a spring feather, but it was a very simple structure. "
According to Saito Assistant Professor. Saito's association says that this research result can be applied to the technology of ultra small unmanned aerial vehicle and technology to compact various things compactly. It is possible to make feathers with nail art material and observe the feathers hidden behind, it is possible to make such a big discovery with familiar materials. Moreover, the technical application seems to be quite large.
Saito said that he will continue to investigate small insects with structures that will continue to wear. I would like to make this discovery available for robotics and satellite technology. And even more, familiar examples can be applied to umbrellas we use .
"Although I have not yet done the image of the design, there is a possibility that the design of an umbrella that has not changed over 1,000 years will change dramatically using the lady's folding method of ladybirds"
According to Saito Assistant Professor. There are many umbrellas that often feel confusing to open and close. I am looking forward to developing an umbrella with a wing-like structure like ladybugs.
