emerging-trends-of-biomimicry

1. Emerging Trends of Biomimicry Summary: Biomimicry holds tremendous potential to inspire sustainable design and smarter technology. For instance, an organism's ability to effectively collect and interpret information about the world around it is a crucial part of its existence and ability to survive. These natural detection systems can be mimicked to enhance current technologies and improve efficiency. TEXT: ‘Biomimetics’ is the human imitation of models, systems and elements in nature that solve complex problems. The core idea is that over the course of thousands of years of evolution, nature has already perfected solutions to many of the problems we are grappling with. As a result, engineers, architects and even medical professions are increasingly turning to natural organisms to provide inspiration for new ideas. For example, a report by the Fermanian Business & Economic Institute suggests that by 2030, biomimicry could account for $425 billion of gross national product (GNP) and $1.6 trillion of global output. Biomimicry holds tremendous potential to inspire sustainable design and smarter technology and has already led to some crucial inventions. For example; Humpback whales turn their fins at different angles to increase their lift. The higher angle proficiency, the more able the whale is to manoeuvre in tight circles. This discovery inspired the addition of a serrated-edge on wind turbines that proved to be more efficient and quieter than the typical smooth blades. In addition, the design of Japanese bullet trains was inspired by the Kingfisher, a bird renowned for travelling between the mediums of air and water, with very little splash. The tip of the train is formatted with a long beak-shaped nose which improves aerodynamics, thus reducing noise and power usage. There are a number of biomimetic trends that are working their way into the industrial sector - many of which borrow the principles of an organism’s ability to sense and react to their environment. By applying these same principles to smart sensors, the field of manufacturing could be completely transformed. An organism's ability to effectively collect information about the world around it is a crucial part of its existence and ability to survive. By interpreting physical, chemical and tactile signals, the organism is able to interpret its environment to allow it to communicate, find food, and avoid predators. These natural detection systems can be mimicked to enhance current technologies. For instance, The Nissan Motor Company state that: "In our ongoing quest to develop collision-avoidance systems for the next generation of automobiles, we needed to look no further than to Mother Nature to find the ultimate form of collision-avoidance systems in action, in particular, the behavioural patterns of fish.” As Toru Futami, engineering director of advanced technology and research at Nissan explains: “A school of fish doesn't have lines to help guide the fishes, but they manage to swim extremely close to each other. So, if cars can perform the same type of thing within a group and move accordingly, we should be able to have more cars operate with the same width roads." Acoustic sensing mimics natural organisms use of sound to identify objects. Often associated with bats, this form of biomimicry can be applied to navigation systems. Most bats use echolocation to find prey and navigate, and biologists are learning that their hand-wings have a lot to do with their precise movements. However, there is growing evidence that bats can also store and quickly compute sensory information by capturing sounds and vibrations in the air. The geometry of these features could be

2. useful for autonomous flight systems, according to Rolf Mueller, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Virginia Tech. Most autonomous flight systems have lasers, sonar, or video cameras that can deliver vast streams of two- and three-dimensional data, helping the robot or aircraft sense its position and the obstacles it must face. But gathering such vast amounts of information can overwhelm on-board computers. Bats can compute all these inputs very quickly using the ridges, grooves and flaps of their ears to perceive their environments, so by mimicking their ability to streamline the information they collect when flying, in-air flight systems could significantly improve their efficiency and safety. In addition, some engineers are applying the study of chemical sensing to engineering challenges. Many organisms have a mechanism for sensing chemicals and odours in their surroundings. For instance, several plankton species have chemosensory abilities that allow them to communicate and lobsters are able to detect trace odours using 6 cm antennae that are covered in hairs. Improving our understanding of how these animals and plants utilise their sensor systems is enabling the development of new chemo-based sensors. For example, most plant species are able to detect low- level CO2 changes, thickening their leaves, so understanding the exact mechanism by which this is achieved could help to develop new chemical sensors for atmospheric pollutants or environmentally toxic compounds.Alternatively, temperature sensing organisms have inspired a range of energy organisations to apply this technology to synthetic sensors that regulate fans or heating. As the fourth industrial revolution transforms every aspect of production and industrialisation, scientists are continually looking to apply new technology in innovative ways to improve efficiency and production. Biomimicry provides the inspiration needed to apply technology in new and exciting ways, altering the way we live, work and produce, forever.