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Biomimetics: Transferring Technology From Nature - Philosophical Transactions Of The Royal Society A Vol. 360, No. 1791 - Cover Date 15 February 2002

February 01, 2002

Biomimetics - natural design
This issue of Transactions A, a Royal Society journal, addresses the emerging and vibrant multidisciplinary field of biomimetics. The idea that natural systems may have design elements that can be used in manufactured technology is not new, Leonardo da Vinci based many of his inventions on natural mechanisms, and more recent successful examples of `technology transfer` from nature include Velcro® and swim wear based on drag-reducing mechanisms found in shark skin.

"Straight transfer of a material or structure from the natural world to engineering technology is not usually useful," says issue editor Dr Chris Smith. "What is more promising is the transfer of design principles. Animals and plants face similar problems to engineers and designers, and have often solved these problems in novel ways that are both high performance and inherently environmentally friendly. We can learn a lot from Nature."

The current state of play in Biomimetics is addressed in a collection of papers illustrating some of the frontiers of this research.

Micro air vehicles, muscle and MEMS
Design concepts that will be useful in micro electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) are the subject of a number of the papers.

The use of flapping wings is of little use for human-sized flight, however it may be the best option for small flying robots, or micro air vehicles (MAVs), that are being developed for search and rescue and remote maintenance in dangerous environments. Zbikowski discusses how studying the novel mechanisms insects use to generate lift in flight can be used to improve the design of these MAVs.

The development of new actuator systems with properties more akin to biological motors like muscle is a very active area of research. The paper by Marra et al looks at an `active polymer` system that behaves like an artificial muscle and shows great promise. Among the many advantages of the system are that they require no moving parts, produce little pollution and can be used in very small environments (MEMS), for example micro robots.

DeFocatiis and Guest demonstrate how deployment systems for lightweight structures can be based on the folding patterns found in leaves. Deploying these structures is very simple as they require very few or no actuators, and the geometries of their shapes and folding patterns ensure that they deploy into stable and predictable structures. These developments are of great interest to, for example, satellite technology.

Skordos at al have proposed a new kind of tuneable strain sensing system based on structures found in insect cuticle. These insect inspired gauges may be more robust, accurate and cheaper than current technology such as surface-mounted foil strain gauges. They can also be built-in to structures as they are manufactured.

Beyond Velcro
Studying insect systems has also allowed Gorb & Popov to demonstrate a novel attachment system that offers improvement over current `hook-and-loop` systems. The new concept is very quiet and is `tuneable` because the force of detachment is proportional to the force of attachment. The system works at the microscopic level - again useful in MEMS technology.

Why is wood tough - it`s the holes
The paper from Hepworth et al examines how understanding of the toughening mechanisms found in hardwood species can be used to develop new high toughness low-density composites. A remarkable finding is that the presence of `hole-like` structures in hard wood corresponds to greater toughness and that actually drilling holes in certain woods can increase toughness. These findings might be applied to man-made composites, foams and other materials.

"There are vast potential advantages to be gained from mimicry of natural materials - ranging from new applications opening up new markets, to improvements in performance, reduced manufacturing costs, and reduced pollution," concludes Dr Chris Smith. "In addition the human engineer has a vastly greater palette of materials with which to apply natural design principles than those available to living organisms. The attractions of biomimetic materials and manufacturing routes can only increase in the future."

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