Nature has an immense influence on our lives. It comes as no surprise that most of our technology and equipment is enabled by nature. The belief that nature is a better engineer is the basis for biomimetics.
The entire process of imitating the systems and organisms in nature to processes and technology to solve our problems is biomimetics.
To elaborate on how this works, we should have a look at some examples.
One of the leading companies in this field is Boston Dynamics.
What initially started out as a spin off from Massachusetts Institute of Technology where, acclaimed engineers worked on robots which were capable of moving and maneuvering like animals taking into consideration of their speed and agility ended up as a big company which was later acquired by Google, Inc for a whooping 500 million dollars and it also has significant links to the US military and also backing and funding from major US military sources.
The Atlas
Some of their exemplary works
BigDog– The Most Advanced Rough-Terrain Robot on Earth
The BigDog is a robot which is designed as a “ rough-terrain robot that is capable of carrying heavy loads, running and climbing. It has 4 legs that resemble that of an animal, It is almost the size of a big dog. An engine with a hydraulic actuation system, which consists of cylinder or fluid motor that utilizes hydraulic power to give an output of linear oscillatory and rotatory motion which helps in movement.
The Big Dog
RiSE: The Amazing Climbing Robot
It is a six-legged robot inspired by a lizard that can climb vertical and horizontal terrains and powered by electrical motors.
Another one of MIT’s scientists project is a robotic fish called as RoboTuna which the US navy has tested and plans to use it , inspired by the blue fin tuna fish this, the unmanned underwater vehicle is capable of moving through the water quietly and could be used for surveillance and transport
Similar to this there is Artificial neural network inspired by central nervous system in the brain of animals , spider silk inspired by the spider webs deemed to be stronger than steel etc are some of the note worthy inventions.
These inventions are deemed to have a huge impact on our lives.
As any new invention has its perks it also comes with its own downfalls, with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (drone) designed as insects and birds to gel with the surroundings can cause havoc if not used properly.
These can prove as weapons of mass destruction and can result in a lot of unnecessary casualties.