In order to demonstrate our project into real-world conditions, we developed a custom drone able to safely transport our organisms into the chosen areas. We were able to use a 3D printer at La Paillasse that allowed us to print most of the drone parts ourselves (like the chassis and feet) The drone was designed in order to safely contain genetically modified, using a tube we designed as well. The tube, working a an airlock, allowed us to sample some air without letting any bacteria out in the external environment. (Please note that no containment test have been conducted outside the lab).

The drone is a quadricopter with a 980kv power.It has 4 ESC (motor speed control systems) of 30A, and is equipped with a flight control system and a distribution circuit.
It runs on a 3S battery (5Ah).
In order to allow the opening of our tubes, the drone is equipped with servomotors able to lift the lid of the tubes. The drone has a 500g payload capacity, which is more than what we should need, and a theoretical 8 minutes autonomy. The extra payload will be used to add extra modules to the drone (such as a bleach bottle, see below), and the 8 minutes autonomy is more than enough to perform our measurement series.

We thought about this drone as a prototype, the first step towards the application of our project in the outside world. Its main objectives were to fly, to carry the bacteria on site, and to retrieve the bacteria exposed to pollutants through a cartridge system. However, we thought about a few improvements for it as the project went on:

We thought about this drone as a prototype, the first step towards the application of our project in the outside world. Its main objectives were to fly, to carry the bacteria on site, and to retrieve the bacteria exposed to pollutants through a cartridge system. However, we thought about a few improvements for it as the project went on:

Containment tubes

Chosing the design and the materials

The tube itself was one of our major challenges: as we are working with living modified organisms, it has to be perfectly safe in terms of containment: Not a single organism must able to get out in the open environment. Therefore, we designed a sampling tube able to sample external air and expose bacteria to it while remaining perfectly hermetic. The tube can then be opened in the lab for result analysis. Our tubes were 3D printed, and the drone was designed to hold up to four tubes for our prototype version.

The basic principle of the tube itself is the same as an airlock: there is a compartment between the outside environment and the inside of the tube, and it acts as an interface: the outside and inside never mix. Therefore, air can be sampled when the tube is opened by little servomotors placed on the drone, and when it closes, air goes into the inner part ofthe tube, therefore making contact with the bacteria who are exposed to the pollutant and will start producing luciferase.

We believe that the tube we designed is a very useful tool for applied synthetic biology that everyone can use, and will do our best to improve it within the iGEM Competition.