The first NSF sponsored Bio-Inspired Design Workshop was held in March 2011, here’s a follow-on:

Bio-inspired design (BID) or biomimicry is an emerging research area in engineering design, computer science and biology that seeks to systematically mine biological knowledge to solve existing engineering problems.  However, the community of BID researchers at present is fragmented with no professional society, unifying funding source, or recurring conference meeting. Continued at http://designengineeringlab.org/BID-workshop/Workshop_2.html

“Our projector consists of hundreds of tiny microprojectors in an array, each of which generates a complete image” explains Marcel Sieler, a scientist at IOF. “This technology, known as ‘array projection’, is modeled on nature – on the compound eye found in some insects – and with it for the first time we can create very thin and bright LED projection systems with tremendous imaging properties.”

Continued at http://www.fraunhofer.de/en/press/research-news/2012/may/mini-projector-for-smartphones.html

Inspiring indeed!

Architect and designer Neri Oxman is assistant professor of media arts and sciences at the MIT Media Lab, where she directs the Mediated Matter research group. Her group explores how digital design and fabrication technologies mediate between matter and environment to radically transform the design and construction of objects, buildings, and systems. Oxmanís goal is to enhance the relationship between the built and the natural environments by employing design principles inspired by nature and implementing them in the invention of digital design technologies.

Continued at http://web.media.mit.edu/~neri/site/projects/projects.html

Not a lot of new news in this for readers of Greenr but great to see these examples in the pages of National Geographic.

Seaweed is just one of the innovations of nature from which engineers are drawing inspiration as they seek to design energy systems that are cleaner and more efficient. In plants—the engines of photosynthesis—and in creatures as small as insects and as large as whales, advocates of “biomimicry” are looking for systems that can help humanity better meet the challenge of fueling civilization sustainably. Continued at http://news.nationalgeographic.com

 

Baby steps towards biomimetic computing:

In a wide range of experiments involving lollipops, flashing and spinning toys, and music makers, among other props, UC Berkeley researchers are finding that children – at younger and younger ages – are testing hypotheses, detecting statistical patterns and drawing conclusions while constantly adapting to changes.

…

Overall, the UC Berkeley researchers say they will apply what they have learned from the exploratory and “probabilistic” reasoning demonstrated by the youngsters in these and other experiments to make computers smarter, more adaptable — and more human.

http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2012/03/12/babyeinsteins/

Another biomimetic innovation – this one inspired by gecko feet – edges closer to commercial reality.

The key innovation by Bartlett and colleagues was to create an integrated adhesive with a soft pad woven into a stiff fabric, which allows the pad to “drape” over a surface to maximize contact. Further, as in natural gecko feet, the skin is woven into a synthetic “tendon,” yielding a design that plays a key role in maintaining stiffness and rotational freedom, the researchers explain. Continued at http://www.umass.edu

A defining feature of life is that it senses: sound, smell, touch, temperature, humidity, light, motion, vibration, orientation. Most of us carry multiple sensors with us every day inside our smartphones. Sensors that know which way you’re holding the phone and re-orient the screen image for instance. Our automobiles contain dozens of sensors that make them more efficient and safer. And in the coming decade  you’ll find sensors showing up in all sorts of places. To get a glimpse into the (very near) future check out these two three Kickstarter projects:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/supermechanical/twine-listen-to-your-world-talk-to-the-internet -

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ninja/ninja-blocks-connect-your-world-with-the-web?ref=category

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/108684420/node-a-modular-handheld-powerhouse-of-sensors?ref=category

http://www.gizmag.com/electric-imp-internet-of-things/22596/

For more insights take a listen to this interview with the creator of “Twine”: http://itc.conversationsnetwork.org/shows/detail5168.html

First an inspiration for more efficient wind power, the Tubercles on the fins of humpback whales may now inspire a new generation of helicopter rotor blades:

When looking for ways to delay the onset of stalling in helicopters, researchers at Göttingen struck gold with humpback whales – which is somewhat surprising at first glance. “These marine mammals are renowned for their great speed and acrobatic skills,” says Holger Mai from the DLR Institute of Aeroelasticity. This is due to their unusually large pectoral fins, which have characteristic bumps along the front edge. “Research has shown that these bumps cause stalling to occur significantly later underwater and increase buoyancy.” Continued at http://www.dlr.de.

Via my friend Scott Mize: Advanced Materials reports on a  reversible mechanical interlocker inspired from the wing locking device of beetles.

The interlocker is highly flexible and displays an extremely high shear locking force of ∼40 N/cm² as well as an easy normal lift-off.

The image shows an illustration for the wing-locking device of beetles that is operated by interconnecting densely-populated microhairs (termed microtrichia) on the cuticular surface.  Continued… (subscription required)…

10 years ago invested in an Australian company pioneering hybrid power systems for marine vessels, starting with ferries but ambitions much larger…like oil tanker large. A decade later they may finally have a customer:

Roughly 50,000 ships carry 90% of the world’s trade cargo, and these ships tend to burn a heavily polluting oil known as bunker fuel.

“It’s like tar, you have to heat it up to make it liquid so it will flow,” says Mr Dane.

“These incredibly powerful engines run on incredibly cheap but dirty fuel so what we can do in the short-term is to ensure they use less fuel.”

The industry has proved hard for governments to regulate as it does not fall into one jurisdiction, however the United Nations International Maritime Organization has recently introduced new regulations on fuel efficiency and sulphur emissions that could drive demand for Solar Sailor’s technology.

Continued at http://www.bbc.co.uk