I like Danny's idea - what nature does instead of devices that we like but she doesn't. Couple of years ago I wrote a piece for "The Sciences" (now defunct), one hashed up a bit by an overzealous editor (from "What Nature Doesn't" to "Unnatural Acts" for a start). Most would make good challenges, I think. So, not just alternatives to wheels, but alternatives to
Metallic materials
Heat engines (external and internal)
Long ropes from twisting and supertwisting short fibers
Woven, glueless cloth - in effect a one-component composite
Parachutes of our sort
Lighter-than-air fliers
Fluid devices that adjust the mix of pressure change and volume change for a given pump power.
Not that some minor use of some of these does occur in nature, of course.
Steve Vogel
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Fri, 31 Aug 2012 22:56:31 +0300
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Re: Attributes of Good Biomimetic Case Studies
How about alternatives to the wheel?
Danny
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From: Engineers and biologists mechanical design list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Norbert Hoeller
Sent: Friday, August 31, 2012 7:30 PM
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Subject: Re: Attributes of Good Biomimetic Case Studies
Julian, the bombardier beetle sounds like an excellent subject for a 'biology to design' case study. The format of the case study and the attributes might need to be tweaked a bit, but that can be done during the case study process.
Would anyone like to suggest a good 'challenge to biology' candidate?
Thanks, Norbert
