Malaysian researchers have developed a way to rework the fibre present in usually discarded pineapple leaves to make a robust materials that can be utilized to construct the frames for unmanned plane, or drones.
The venture, headed by Professor Mohamed Thariq Hameed Sultan at Malaysia’s Putra University, has been looking for sustainable makes use of for pineapple waste generated by farmers in Hulu Langat, an space about 65 km (40 miles) from Kuala Lumpur.
“We are transforming the leaf of the pineapple into a fibre that can be used for aerospace application, basically inventing a drone,” he advised Reuters at a workshop.
Mohamed Thariq mentioned drones made out of the bio-composite materials had the next strength-to-weight ratio than these constituted of artificial fibres, and have been additionally cheaper, lighter, and simpler to get rid of.
A scholar holds pineapple leaf fibres at a workshop of University Putra Malaysia, in Serdang, Malaysia
If the drone was broken, the body could possibly be buried within the floor and would degrade inside two weeks, he mentioned.
The prototype drones have been in a position to fly to a top of about 1,000 metres (3,280 ft) and keep within the air for about 20 minutes, he added.
Ultimately, the analysis workforce hopes to create a bigger drone to accommodate greater payloads, together with imagery sensors, for agricultural functions and aerial inspections.
“Our role here is to help the industry, the farmers, to increase their yield and make their jobs much easier,” mentioned William Robert Alvisse of the Malaysian Unmanned Drones Activist Society, a non-governmental group serving to to design the drone and advising on the venture.
Before the venture launched in 2017, pineapple stems have been discarded after the once-in-a-year harvest interval, however farmers hope the drones venture will encourage extra innovation to search out makes use of for the waste and increase incomes.
“With the well being problem, the financial system downside as a result of COVID-19, the society is determined and there’s no different to extend revenue,” mentioned pineapple farmer Irwan Ismail.
© Thomson Reuters 2020
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