Applications—Influence of Biology on Engineering

February 12, 2021 Jeremiah Hendren

Applications—Influence of Biology on Engineering

Vincent*, Julian FV.
Journal of Bionic Engineering 3, no. 3 (2006): 161-177
https://doi.org/10.1016/S1672-6529(06)60020-6

* Chair of Biomimetics, University of Bath

If engineers are going to be able to use ideas from biology (and it’s not always easy to convince engineers that they should), it cannot be stated too often that the biological system must be understood before allowing ideas to be transferred into the engineering environment. The classic example, again, is flight where there was insufficient appreciation of the scaling problems in powering flapping flight. For instance, structural control and feedback. Many animals could be equated with low loading structures with feedback to give the impression of infinite stiffness and stability. As an example, imagine yourself holding a glass in your outstretched hand with your arm held horizontal. Much to your delight, someone decides to fill the glass with your favourite drink (in my case, of course, that would be water). To the surprise of the engineer who is watching, your outstretched arm does not sag with the addition of this extra load. Obviously you are contracting muscles on the upper side of the arm and these are counteracting the weight. But to the engineer it appears as if you have an arm that does not deflect on loading—it is infinitely stiff! When computing power becomes cheaper than concrete (and that point may already have been reached if we were to do our sums in terms of global accounting) it will be cheaper to make a lighter structure with less material and to make it capable of beating loads by the simple expedient of controlled stressing -just like your outstretched arm. It would also be just the sort of structure for the armed forces, since it would be light weight and easily transportable, could rapidly adapt itself to new or changed conditions, lean into the wind on an exposed site, etc.

Julian Vincent

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