IB 199 BioInspiration Spring 2011

A deep-sea snails triple layer shell could provide insight for innovations in general military armor for tanks etc. and also body armor for military personnel.

This short article discribes the accomplishements in robotics made by Mirko Kovac, a robotics engineer. It goes into detail about his break-through in the "perching" methods that stemmed from his grasshopper-inspired robots. There is also a brief video clip that essentially describes the "perching" process of his robot. I was really amazed to find that these robots are actually programed to run into whatever object they are looking for without being harmed!

This article is about a low-impact/ permaculture house built in Wales. The house focuses on sustainability and utilizing nature's natural resources. The article lists the materials used for the house and their functions. The house is almost like a giant bird's nest, using "stone and mud from diggings used for retaining walls, foundations etc" and hay and straw to insulate the house. It also has solar panels to power lights and electricity, as well has extensive sun windows to let in natural light. I think this article is interesting because without saying it, the builder is mimicking processes in nature in order to live without major technology.

This is an interesting concept for a drink cozy with a composition that mimics blubber.

Be it that we are nearing the end of the class, I found this video to be a very good summary of what we have covered in the class and what we can take away from it. The video is based upon the new movement of finding design inspiration from nature (Biomimicry). For this specific interview, they focus on an interview with Robert Full to educate the viewer about engineering inspiration from nature. If you remember, Robert Full believes that evolution doesn't necessarily design the perfect mechanism, but rather the mechanism that allows the animal to survive. Therefore, we as humans are able to learn from the abilities of animals gained from evolution and further refine the specific ability to be more efficient and applicable to our needs. The video covers a bunch of the innvoations we have discussed during our time in class including the gecko robot and the running robot RHex. I think this would be a nother great video to show in the beginning of the class for next semester. It presents the general idea of BioInspiration, provides examples of research and application, and also discusses the great importance it will play in the future; building more efficient and useful technology.

Remember those wheel rolling caterpillars? Well now they are the focus of an robot which they have inspired. The problem is that soft body robots are slow, so for a solution scientist look to nature and found that these caterpillars have amazing speed yet are remarkably quite squishy. By mimicking them they have made advancements to help overcome this problem.

Found a robot that is intended to help future oil spills. This robot is related to the topic i am planning to design my robot under

The star-nosed mole lives mostly underground, and thus has poorly developed eyes. However, this has also given rise to its ultrasensitive nose. It has 11 pairs of appendages on its nose that are covered with over 25,000 mechanoreceptors. This makes its nose 6 times more sensitive than the human hand and the most sensitive organ throughout the animal kingdom.

Here is another interesting article about bio-inspired robotics. They have a particularly interesting flying robot based off of a fly as well as other pages including nanostructures, biomaterials, and more.

This article talks about making robots using whole-skin locomotion that mimics amoeba movement. It seems like a great idea. This article also talks about the possibilities that are available with a robot using this type of locomotion. There is an iRobot BlobBot that can change its shape and squeeze and stretch. This would be great for using a robot to get into tight spaces. This seems useful for the robot project!

A newly created robot improves upon a gecko's sticking power.

Personal robots may soon be as cheap and customizable as personal computers.

I remember when mentioned how Bacteria works in past lectures. There is a recent research about that. Bacteria swap genes with their neighbors more frequently than researchers have realized.

This article talks about some really interesting possible bio-inspired sensors on future robots. They're very likely to achieve according to the current technical development.

I found this amazing TED talk by aircraft designer and environmentalist Paul MacCready given way back in 1998. While this talk was given over a decade ago, he talks about the problems that we are facing today. MacCready discusses humans' great advancements in technology and about what we all can do to preserve nature's delicate balance. Here's a great excerpt from the talk that provides a great overview of the topics: "Over billions of years on a unique sphere, chance has painted a thin covering of life: complex, improbable, wonderful and fragile. Suddenly, we humans, a recently arrived species, no longer subject to the checks and balances inherent in nature, have grown in population, technology and intelligence to a position of terrible power. We now wield the paintbrush, and that's serious. We're not very bright. We're short on wisdom; we're high on technology. Where's it going to lead?" - Paul MacCready During his talk he promotes the great potential and future in solar planes, superefficient gliders and the electric car. Its amazing to watch this video and see that we have had this technology for over a decade and it is still not utilized to its full potential. Other than the great information and points made, the presentation of the talk was very entertaining and includes a variety of videos and demonstrations ranging from mini RC aircrafts to ultra light rubberband powered active flyers. Discussing the future of the Earth Paul has a great quote: "I personally think the surviving intelligent life form on earth is not going to be carbon-based; it's going to be silicon-based."

This is an interesting bit on how penguins and seals use their feathers/fur to create traction when sliding on antarctic ice, and scientists are trying to imitate it mechanically.

Not cutting edge or new research, but yet to be brought forth from what I've seen. This article tells of robots built the size of roaches, not resembling them however, coated with a coattail of chemicals resembling that of real roaches. These robots where then accepted into the swarms and even more surprising were able to influence swarm decisions making. When scurrying for cover the robots ran to well light shelter, counter of nature roach behavior, and was able to get the swarm to follow them. More needs to be researched but this is the beginning of understanding the swarm!

This is an article about a tiny animal called the water bear. They're not actually bears, and they are only 0.1-0.5 mm in length. However, they live just about everywhere on earth and can survive even the most extreme conditions (really high temperatures, really low temperatures, really high pressure, etc. They can live up to 120 years without any water and can even survive in space! They are able to this by entering a state of suspended animation; they dehydrate their bodies, which are normally 85% water, down to 2% water and replacing this water with a sugar which keeps its cell membranes intact. This concept could be used to preserve antibiotics without using refrigeration so that they could reach patients without spoiling.

After the discussion of extending life in class today I remembered reading about recent advancements and claims that have been made about extending the human life. After looking around I found this great article that tracks recent scientific findings and possible "cures". In the quest for longer life, scientists are trying to find the genes of longevity and bottle their benefits for all. However, the purpose of this research is not extreme life span but something they call "health span." Rather than getting certain diseases early in life such as heart disease and other age dependent illness, these illnesses will merely happen much later in life. Aging, after all, is not a disease but a natural process, the accumulation of defects that our bodies simply do not have the wherewithal to repair. A large portion of the article discusses the hypothesis that calorie restriction reduces the creation of toxic molecules called free radicals, which are considered crucial factors in the aging of cells and tissues. Another hypothesis is that calorie restriction decreases the secretion of certain hormones-in particular, insulin and insulin-like growth factor-that signal organisms to channel their resources into either growth and reproduction (when insulin and IGF levels are high) or maintenance and repair (when they are low). The article also discusses the work of Dr. Grey. Dr. Grey believes solving the fight against aging involves dismantling and hauling out the molecular trash while also delivering engineered gene and therapeutic cells to refurbish cells that have died out and gone unreplaced. He believes that other scientists' focus is too small, and it is easier to just clean up the mess rather than mess with pathways and mechanisms. Dr. Grey believes that the possibility of a shot to cure aging is a lot closer than we think.

Exellent review of the paper. And interesting view-point of this Dr. Grey.

I mean: Excellent review ;-)

I found this website, it has a compilation of 14 really cool inventions all inspired by mother nature. Take a look and see if something will intrigue you, I spend a few minutes on it and i recommend it. My favorite was the one based off of humans teeth, but you will have to read to find out what teeth can inspire!

Shane, these are great examples. Some of them I had not seen before (and I have seen a large number of "top ten lists"). My favorite thing about the list was the comparison of bird feather color and beer foam...but that may be because I am sitting here all relaxed reading over the IB199 students' musings.