June 28, 2006
Biomimicry in the News
An interesting article appears in Business Week about the Office of Naval Research's program on Bio-Inspired Robotics and Research. This is an interesting area, as very clearly evolutionary pressures have made some very efficient structures and methods for locomotion.
Posted by elkaim at June 28, 2006 10:11 AMIt's a field known as biomimetics or biomimicry, though not everyone approves of those terms. Promode Bandyopadhyay of the Naval Undersea Warfare Center in Newport, R.I., says his work is not an imitation of biology, but biologically inspired. "We are learning from nature's design," he says.
MORE THAN A COPY. A senior research scientist at the center, Bandyopadhyay has worked with the Office of Naval Research to develop a Bio-Inspired Autonomous Undersea Vehicle, or BUAV, which draws on the principles behind fly wings and fish fins in its propulsion and maneuvering.
The tried-and-true designs of many insects are the product of millions of years of evolution. Even so, they are not perfect models. Natural selection isn't just a matter of physiological perfection, but how an organism's traits suit it for a particular environment, scientists say. For this reason, Bandyopadhyay stresses it is important not to just copy nature's work, but to take the best parts of it and apply it elsewhere. "I am against mimicry," he says. "I am against making a mechanical zoo. There is no science in that. It is imperative to understand the science first."
It's in that vein that Bandyopadhyay has overseen study by the Office of Naval Research into biomimetic robots developed by Northeastern University's Joseph Ayers. The robots may be implemented by the military to disable mines in shallow waters.