BIOMIMETICS

BIOMIMETICS
Unit - 4
• Innovation has many sources of inspiration. One
source is Nature.
• Biomimetics is the study of the structure and

function of biological systems as models for the
design and engineering of materials and
machines.
Then what is bonics ?
• "the science of systems which have some
function copied from nature, or which represent
characteristics of natural systems or their
analogues“
• It’s the same …. As biommetics.

How it evolved ?
• Over the last 3.6 billion years,[3] nature has gone through a process of trial
and error to refine the living organisms, processes, and materials on Earth.
The emerging field of biomimetics has given rise to new technologies
created from biologically inspired engineering at both the macro scale and
nanoscale levels.
• Biomimetics is not a new idea. Humans have been looking at nature for
answers to both complex and simple problems throughout our existence.
Nature has solved many of today's engineering problems such as self-
healing abilities, environmental exposure tolerance and resistance,
hydrophobicity, self-assembly, and harnessing solar energy through the
evolutionary mechanics of selective advantages.
Examples
• The study of birds to enable human flight.
What’s the difference ?
What is ecomimicry ?
Ecomimicry involves mimicking local
animals and plants (or their ecological
settings) to produce sustainable, ecofriendly,
socially-responsible designs,
innovations and technologies.
Ecomimicry is more careful to produce

designs that serve the local environment
and community
MULTIPLE SCALES OF - NATURE TO MIMIC
• Molecular level
• Cellullar level
• Organismal level
• Landscape/Community/Ecosystem level
The theory behind
Ecomimicry/Biomimicry
Nature is imaginative by neccessity

There’s billions of years of R&D to study
Nature has solved many of the problems

of sustainability that we face
Local adaptations to local environmental
situations (ecomimicry)
NATURE AS TEACHER
Nature as Model: Biomimicry is a new science that studies
Nature's models and then imitates or takes inspiration from
these designs and processes to solve human technological
problems; eg: a solar cell inspired by a leaf. (Scientific)
Nature as Measure: Biomimicry uses an ecological standard

to judge the rightness of our innovations. After so many
billions of years of evolution, Nature has learned what works
and what will last without damaging the environment in the
future. (Environmental)
Nature as Mentor: Biomimicry is a new way of viewing and

valuing nature. It introduces an era based not on what we can
extract from the natural world but on what we can learn from
it. (Philosophical)
Nature’s 9 basic laws worthy
of mimicking
1-Nature runs on sunlight
2-Nature uses only the energy it needs
3-Nature fits form to function
4-Nature recycles everything (no 'waste')
5-Nature rewards cooperation
6-Nature banks on diversity
7-Nature demands local expertise
8-Nature curbs excesses from within
9-Nature taps the power of limits
What to design ?
Building, artwork, landscape,

garden, product, service, agricultural
or forestry system, street or city
plan, society.
Public, private, governmental,

commercial, non-commercial
Experimental, speculative,
qualitative or established, practical,
work-in-progress
ECOMIMICRY DESIGN METHODS
1. Design Problem strategy
2. Bio Inspiration
1. Design problem statergy
1) Define Problem (don’t ask “what do I want to
design but “what do I want the design to do”)
2) Identify organisms/ecological principles that
have solved the problems (specimens and
literature and websites)
3) Work out system/technology/idea/innovation
that mimics the organism
4) Graphically represent the
system/technology/idea/innovation (including
an exegesis)
5) How does it stack up against the 9 principles
of Nature
2. Bio inspiration
1) Pick an interesting organism/ecological setting
2) Identify processes and strategies that help that help
the organism/ecological setting sustain itself (and
select one process or strategy)
3) Project this process or strategy into a
mechanical/technological form that can be made by
humans.
4) Graphically represent this
mechanical/technological form
5) How does your design stack up against the 9
principles of Nature?
PROBLEMS WITH BIOMIMICRY
• Biological determinism/ecological determinism
• learn from Nature’s techniques not morals
• Knowledge filtered through social activity (not really
biological, anyhow)
• Do we rely on expert knowledge of biology
• Design tools already exist, biomimicry slows thedesign
process down
• Does biomimicry make unsupportable assumptions about
nature?
• What does it mean to learn from this thing called Nature?
• What does biomimicry assume about technology/design?
• Biomimicry is not inherently sustainable
…………

BIOMIMETICS

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BIOMIMETICS

• Biomimetics is the study of the structure and

• It’s the same …. As biommetics.

Ecomimicry is more careful to produce

Nature is imaginative by neccessity

Nature has solved many of the problems

Nature as Measure: Biomimicry uses an ecological standard

Nature as Mentor: Biomimicry is a new way of viewing and

Building, artwork, landscape,

Public, private, governmental,

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