Chapter 1: Bionics

Bionics, often known as biologically inspired engineering, is the study and creation of engineering systems and contemporary technology using biological principles and systems found in nature.

The American television shows The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman, both of which were based on Martin Caidin's novel Cyborg, helped popularize the term "bionic," which was first used by Jack E. Steele in August 1958 as a portmanteau of the words biology and electronics. In all three tales, electromechanical implants grant individuals distinct superhuman abilities.

The transfer of technology between living things and artificial objects is preferred, say proponents of bionic technology, because evolutionarily-driven pressure usually causes flora and fauna to become optimized and effective. For instance, the hydrophobic qualities of the lotus flower plant served as inspiration for the development of dirt- and water-repellent paint (coating) (the lotus effect).

Boat hulls that mimic dolphins' thick skin or sonar, radar, and medical ultrasound imaging that mimics animal echolocation are a few examples of bionics in engineering.

Artificial neurons, artificial neural networks, and swarm intelligence have all emerged from the study of bionics in the field of computer science. Evolutionary computation was also impacted by bionics, but the latter developed the concept by simulating evolution in silico and creating optimum solutions that had never been seen in nature.

There is currently just a 12% overlap between biology and technology in terms of the methods employed, according to a 2006 research report.

Otto Schmitt first used the term "biomimetics" in the 1950s. While employed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio's Aeronautics Division House in August 1958, Jack E. Steele came up with the term "bionics." However, to prevent confusion with the medical term "bionics," terms like biomimicry or biomimetics are suggested. Martin Caidin, whose 1972 book Cyborg was made into a television movie and a subsequent television series called The Six Million Dollar Man, accidentally coined the term. Before focusing only on writing fiction, Caidin had a long career as an aviation industry writer.

Instead of replicating biological structures, the study of bionics frequently places an emphasis on executing a function present in nature. For instance, in computer science, artificial intelligence attempts to simulate intelligent function independent of the specific method by which it can be achieved while cybernetics attempts to simulate the feedback and control mechanisms that are inherent in intelligent behavior.

An example of applied case-based reasoning is the deliberate imitation of examples and procedures from natural creatures and ecologies, considering nature as a storehouse of proven solutions. Some claim that all natural living forms are subject to selective pressure, which reduces and eliminates failures.

Although practically all engineering might be considered a type of biomimicry, Buckminster Fuller is typically credited with the modern roots of this area, and Janine Benyus with its later institutionalization as a house or topic of study.

Technology can typically be designed after three biological stages of the fauna or flora:

mimicking natural manufacturing processes

systems that resemble those in nature (e.g. velcro)

studying organizing concepts from the social behavior of creatures, such as the behavior of flocks of birds, the improvement of ant and bee foraging, and the behavior of a school of fish based on swarm intelligence (SI).

Roboticists employ bionics and biomimetics to develop machines that move like animals. The movements and physiology of kangaroos served as the basis for BionicKangaroo.

The most well-known application of biomimicry is Velcro. George de Mestral, a Swiss engineer, discovered how the burrs' hooks stuck to the fur in 1948 while brushing burrs off his dog.

When cutting down trees was still done by hand at the turn of the 19th century, lumberjack blades had horn-shaped saw-tooth designs that were based on studies of a wood-burrowing beetle. The blades transformed the lumber business because they were substantially more effective.

Percy Shaw created cat's eye reflectors in 1935 after researching the workings of cat eyes. He had discovered that cats have a system of reflecting cells called the tapetum lucidum that could reflect even the smallest amount of light.

Early examples of engineering that drew inspiration from nature are Leonardo da Vinci's flying devices and ships.

Resilin, a rubber substitute developed through research on a substance also present in arthropods,.

When creating "smart" clothing that adjusts to changing temperatures in 2004, Julian Vincent drew inspiration from the study of pinecones. He stated, "I sought a nonliving system that would alter shape in response to changes in moisture." There are a number of these systems in plants, but the majority are relatively small. The pinecone is the largest and hence the most accessible. Pinecones open their scales in response to increased humidity (to disperse their seeds). The "smart" fabric behaves similarly, expanding up when the wearer is hot and perspiring and closing tightly when the wearer is chilly.

Biomimetic researchers from Penn State University created "morphing airplane wings" in 2004 that alter their shape depending on the speed and length of flight. The various bird species that have varying shaped wings depending on the pace at which they fly served as inspiration for the morphing wings. The researchers' idea covers the wings with sliding scales inspired by fish in order to achieve the ability to alter the shape and underlying structure of the aircraft wings as well as the skin that lies on top of them. This is a development of the swing-wing design in several ways.

Some paints and roof tiles have been created with self-cleaning capabilities by imitating the Nelumbo lotus's process.

The thin-film material cholesteric liquid crystals (CLCs) is frequently used to create mood rings or fish tank thermometers that change color in response to temperature variations. Since their molecules are arranged in a helical or chiral pattern, their color changes as a result of temperature changes in the pitch of the helical structure, which reflects light at different wavelengths. Utilizing brief lengths of inorganic, twisted glass fiber, Chiral Photonics, Inc. has abstracted the self-assembled structure of the organic CLCs to create comparable optical devices.

Greg Parker, a professor of electronics and computer science at the University of Southampton, and research associate Luca Plattner have replicated in silico the nanostructures and physical processes that give butterfly wings their brilliant color. Photonics is the branch of electronics that uses photons rather than electrons as the information carrier.

The blue morpho butterfly's wing structure was examined, and the way it reflects light was imitated, to produce an RFID tag that can read metal and water.

The design of novel nanosensors to detect explosives was also influenced by the wing shape of butterflies.

Wiring on silicon retinae and neuromorphic circuits is based on actual brain networks.

Technoecosystems, often known as "EcoCyborg" systems, combine technological processes that imitate ecological processes with natural ecological ones. As a result, a hybrid system that can regulate itself is produced. who believed that the composition and energy dynamics of ecosystems may be compared to the energy flow within an electrical circuit.

The physical characteristics present in gecko foot are being used to create medical adhesives that use glue and microscopic nanohairs.

Similar to biological viruses, computer viruses target information that is focused on programs for self-replication and spread.

To provide extremely effective passive cooling, the Eastgate Centre building in Harare's cooling system was designed after a termite mound.

Bioadhesive gel for blood vessels was inspired by an adhesive that permits mussels to adhere to rocks, piers, and boat hulls.

New aircraft designs that provide increased agility in addition to other benefits have been influenced by the science of bionics.

Geoff Spedding has described it in this way, Måns Rosén, and Anders Hedenström in an article in Journal of Experimental Biology.

The morphologically precise snapping shrimp claw is used in a mechanical system that is bio-inspired to create plasma in water by cavitation. In an article that appeared in Science Advances, Xin Tang and David Staack went into great depth about this.

The term "bionics" describes the transfer of ideas from biology to engineering and the reverse. Consequently, there are two slightly different viewpoints on what the word means.

In medicine, bionics refers to the mechanical replacement or improvement of organs or other body parts. Bionic implants differ from simple prostheses in that they closely or even perfectly replicate the original function.

The German term for bionics, Bionik, always follows the more general definition by attempting to create technical solutions using biological models. This strategy is inspired by the notion that evolutionary forces would typically maximize biological solutions.

A few successful bionic devices already exist, like the multi-channel cochlear implant (bionic ear), an aid for the deaf that was developed in Australia, even though the technology that enable bionic implants are still in the early stages of development. Numerous bionic devices have been developed since the bionic ear,...