BIOMIMICRY

PRAVEEN ASOKAN

Biomimicry:

A new science that studies nature's models and then uses these designs and processes to solve

human problems. Humans evolved by learning from nature and getting inspired by the natural

phenomenon. Biomimicry is used in almost every fields today ranging from Architecture to

Computer Science.

Bionics: Nature as an ingenious engineer and

designer

How is a water spider able to swim and dive

without getting wet? This is one of the questions

which the modern discipline of bionics tries to

answer. The aim of bionics specialists is to

translate nature's solutions into human

technology, for there is no doubt that nature is

the best engineer and most ingenious designer of

all.

The comparatively recent research area of

bionics is actually an inter-disciplinary subject

which combines engineering science,

architecture and mathematics. The basic

principle is to make nature's ideas and problem

solutions, which have stood the test of time over

millions of years of evolution, usable for man.

Basic Principles of Biomimicry

Nature runs on sunlight.

Nature uses only the energy it needs.

Nature fits form to function.

Nature recycles everything.

Nature rewards cooperation.

Nature banks on diversity.

Nature demands local expertise.

Nature curbs excesses from within.

Nature taps the power of limits.

Examples: PRAVEEN ASOKAN

Learning from Termites How to Create Sustainable Buildings

Learning from Human Lungs How to Sequester Carbon

Learning from Humpback Whales How to Create Efficient Wind Power

Learning from Nature How to Create Flow without Friction

Learning from Dolphins How to Warn People about Tsunamis

Learning from Trees and Bones How to Optimize Strength and Materials

Learning From Chimpanzees How to Heal Ourselves

Learning from Lotus Plants How to Clean without Cleaners

Learning Efficiency from Kingfishers

Burr = Velcro Termite den = Office building

Velcro is widely known

example of biomimicry. You may

have worn shoes with Velcro straps

as a youngster and you can certainly

look forward to wearing the same

kind of shoes in retirement.

Velcro was invented by Swiss

engineer George de Mestral in 1941

after he removed burrs from his dog

and decided to take a closer look at

how they worked. The small hooks

found at the end of the burr needles

inspired him to create the now

ubiquitous Velcro.

Mick Pearce studied the

cooling chimneys and tunnels of

termite dens. He applied those lessons

to the 333,000 square-foot Eastgate

Centre, Zimbabwe, which uses 90

percent less energy to heat and cool

than traditional buildings.

The building has large

chimneys that naturally draw in cool

air at night to lower the temperature of

the floor slabs, just like termite dens.

During the day, these slabs retain the

coolness, greatly reducing the need for

supplemental air conditioning.

Meet squid-bot, a camouflaging robot

The Pentagon-backed gadget is a silicone-based robots

made from polymers. The prototype incorporates a thin

sheet of special silicone with microscopic channels through

which colored fluids are pumped so that the robot’s “skin”

mimics the colors and patterns of the surrounding.

environment.

How to Create Flow without Friction

Efficiency from Kingfishers in Train

Pomegranate Inspired Lithium-ion battery

Powerhouse Solar Cell Inspired by Leaf Biomimicry

PRAVEEN ASOKAN

Nature moves water and air using a logarithmic or exponentially

growing spiral, as commonly seen in seashells. This pattern

shows up everywhere in Nature: in the curled up trunks of

elephants and tails of chameleons. This design is applied in

human-made rotary devices for the first time, in fans, mixers,

propellers, turbines and pumps. Depending on application, the

resulting designs reduce energy usage by a staggering 10-85%

over conventional rotors, and noise by up to 75%.

The Shinkansen Bullet Train of the West Japan Railway

Company is the fastest train in the world, travelling 200 miles

per hour. The problem? Noise. Air pressure changes produced

large thunder claps every time the train emerged from a tunnel,

causing residents one-quarter a mile away to complain.

Modelling the front-end of the train after the beak of

kingfishers, which dive from the air into bodies of water with

very little splash to catch fish, resulted not only in a quieter

train, but 15% less electricity use even while the train travels.

The design solves problems for lithium-ion batteries with

silicon nanoparticles clustered like seeds in a tough carbon

rind – overcomes several remaining obstacles to using silicon

for a new generation of lithium-ion batteries. Experiments

showed our pomegranate-inspired anode operate at 97 percent

capacity even after 1,000 cycles of charging and discharging.

A team of scientists headed up by Princeton

University has achieved a whopping 47 percent

increase in electricity generation from

flexible plastic solar cells, simply by texturing

the surface to mimic the wrinkles of a typical

leaf.

3D PRINTING AND BIOMIMICRY

3D printing opens up new possibilities in both form and function. It makes it possible to

create organic-looking shapes that would be difficult or impossible using molds “With the aid

of additive manufacturing, we can replicate structures from nature almost one-to-one”

Additive manufacturing is used to produce customized, movable system parts made of

polyamide applied in thin layers to a substrate during production. Every layer is fused with

the layer below using a laser and only hardens in the areas defined by the control program.

This enables 3D printing of sophisticated product geometries.

Nature can inspire us towards inventive designs and productive, successful collaborations.

Fast developing techniques such as 3D printing can help us by giving the possibility to

approach nature’s shapes even more closely. The insight that nature gives us can be used for

a new way of approaching design.

Biomimicry Shoe Bionic Handling Assistant

PRAVEEN ASOKAN

MBA-IB

PONDICHERRY UNIVERSITY

The shoe highlights the aesthetics and

the shape of the bird skull, along with

the characteristics of the lightweight

and highly differentiated bone

structure within the cranium. Such

structure requires less support

material, resulting in optimal

efficiency, strength and elegance.

Nature has been the main source of

inspiration for the making and shaping

of this shoe.

The light weight flexible structures capable

of exerting ample force. Another

advantage: these sophisticated systems are

produce without extravagant assembly

processes and expensive tool costs. The

high flexibility and low density of the

polyamide at only 0.95 gm per cubic

centimetre are ideal for the optimal

strength to weight ratio of the Bionic

Handling Assistant. Its entire body

including the grippers is produced using

additive manufacturing.