How Scientists use Nature as a Blueprint for Inventions
Nature is an endless source of inspiration. Mimicking the adaptions of animals and plants that evolved over millions of years can lead to stunning innovations.
How to Swim and Fly like a Jellyfish
The movements of jellyfish are not only gracious, they are also very effective and energy-saving. Engineers of the german firm Festo built robotic jellyfish that can swim through water (AquaJelly) and air (AirJelly).
AquaJelly
Festo introduces the AquaJelly on it’s homepage like this:
AquaJelly is an artificial autonomous jellyfish in water, a self-controlling system which emulates swarming behaviour. AquaJelly consists of a translucent hemisphere and eight tentacles for propulsion. At the centre of the AquaJelly is a watertight laser-sintered body. It houses a central electric motor, the two lithium-ion polymer batteries, the recharging control unit and the servo motors for the swash plate.
The tentacles are designed from the functional anatomy of a fish’s fin .Together they produce a peristaltic forward motion just like their biological model. Both jellyfish robots steer themselves by weight shifts and can move in every direction.
The AirJelly consists of a helium filled balloon with a diameter of 1,35 m and eight tentacles. It is the first indoor flight object with peristaltic drive. Watch the video and see the robotic jellyfish in action.
read more on that topic at designnews.com or directly at festo.com
What better look for a robot than that of a penguin?
Festo didn’t only stick to Jellyfish. They also created two versions robotic penguins one that can swim (obviously) and one that can fly. Like the robotic jellyfish, these penguins are autonomous. The navigate with the help of a 3D-sonar which also enables them to communicate with fellow robotic penguins and prevents them from collision. They can turn their head and tails in every direction so that they can maneuver in minimal space.
That design has industrial applications, says Fischer. It has been adapted by Festo to make a flexible, trunk-like arm with a gripper on the end for use in industrial applications. The arm can twist up to 90° in any direction, giving it an unrivalled degree of dexterity
For more information click on newscientist.com and watch the following video from the Gadget Show. A robotic penguin seems to be the perfect playmate in the pool:
How to stick to a wall like a Gecko
Geckos are among the heaviest animals that can adhere to wet surfaces. What keeps them sticking to the wall even head first? The solution lies in the surface structure of their feet. The underside of their toes is covered with thousands of microhairs out of keratin (like our nails and hair). These tiny hairs cling to the surface and function as a dry adhesive. They grip to the surface by attractive forces of atomic scale and the best thing about them – they are self-cleaning. Unlike sticky tape these hairs do not stay hopelessly filthy when put on a dirty surface. The gecko is able to shed the dirt particles of with every step keeping it’s toes clean and sticky. Of course scientists are trying to develop a material with similar surface structure and it seems they succeeded in creating an even more effective dry adhesive that can support even more weight than the sticky gecko feet.
read more at: scientificamerican.com and sciencedaily.com
This dry adhesive could also work under water and might even be a long-term solution for the use in space. And of course – we could all give a really cool spider-man appearance!
Video of the Geckobot
The biologist Robert Full gave an interesting TED Talk to this topic in 2009, also revealing the important function of the tail of the gecko as world’s fastest Air-righting Response. Check it out at TED Talk: Robert Full – Learning from the gecko\’s tail
Shark Inspired
REM shark skin bionik.fbsm.hs-bremen.de
REM shark skin bionik.fbsm.hs-bremen.de
Maybe you’re familiar with the discussion about the Speedo “Fastskin” suits. The design is inspired by sharkskin, mimicking the microscopic structure of it’s surface, particularly the small surface projections called denticles that help manage the flow of water. It also compresses the swimmer’s body in a more hydrodynamic shape. More than 20 world records were broken in these suits.
The structure of their skin not only helps sharks swim efficiently, it also minimizes the area to which organisms can adhere. Although sharks are fast swimmers most of the time they don’t speed trough the water but move slowly. Still unlike whales they are not covered with barnacles or tube worms. Imitating sharkskin has also found out to be useful when inventing boat paint. The artificial shark skin might reduces the settlement of barnacles and other marine organisms on the ship’s body. For more information go on sharkskincoating.com.
Sharkskin surfaces could also find their way in hospitals and households. Sharklet Technologies are working on a surface coating which mimics sharkskin and prevents the growth of biofilms. Read the interview with the CEO of Sharklet Technologies at news.discovery.com
Cutting Bank Fraud with the help of P. blumei
The bright iridescent colours on the wings of butterflies and other insects result from the interaction of light with the microscopic surface structure of the wings. These phototonic structures have long fascinated biologists and physicists but they did not succeed in mimicking this effect – until recently. Mathias Kolle and Colleagues from the University of Cambridge studied the wings’ nanostructure of the Indonesian Green Swallowtail (Papilio blumei) and copied them. Therefore they used a combination of layer deposition techniques producing the same vivid colours as the butterfly.
These artificial structures could be used to encrypt information in optical signatures on banknotes or other valuable items to protect them against forgery. We still need to refine our system but in future we could see structures based on butterflies wings shining from a £10 note or even our passports (Matthias Kolle sciencedaily.com)
A Green Swallotail by Swamibu on flickr
featured image by robotics.eecs.berkeley.edu
