Turner Bioinspiration Archive

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Final Synthesis

As I was deciding on how to write my final synthesis, I noticed that the criteria for this section mentions making it useful for future use, so instead of writing it in paragraph form, I benefit from lists. Below is a list of everything I found important and noteworthy from this class, there were so many awesome things, I hope I remembered to include them all.

Future information and lessons I want to reference and remember:

Incorporate more photosynthesis into the unit in my classroom. Have students research the benefit of photosynthesis, and it's inspiration for technology. Such as solar panels, proficient harnessing of energy, closed loop system, and harnessing the suns energy at night.

Have my biology students create their own photosynthesis bioinspired invention. Even if it is not possible with today's technology.

Bioinspiration vs. biomimicry: life is so complex, so are biological systems. It is not possible for humans to mimic nature exactly, because of all of the complex parts. Instead ideas and inventions need to be simply and rely on one idea, not all.

Go out and be inspired by nature, urge your students to be the same. Research taking a short field trip to the forest preserve by my high school and have the students do the same that we did in class. Write down questions, observations, things you want to know. Show students how you do not need to be an engineer or an artist to be inspired or creative

It's amazing how there are so many biological materials that can be substituted for synthetic ones. Science has created many awesome synthetic materials, but they can have a harmful effect on the environment, utilizing natural biological materials should be emphasized. Don't forget research more about Ashby Plots! (use as an AP bio project?)

There is so much we can learn from insects as far as robot creation. Even just the one robot I researched could become a more efficient inhaler or fire extinguisher. Explain to students the benefits of studying nature, using the robot examples like Dash, robobee, Bigdog, etc.

Research incorporating more sense information into my biology unit, there are so many complex and amazing ones, other than what students know about their own. Refer back to the design your own robot units for help.

Research closed loop systems that are being utilized by people in their homes, and how you can incorporate more of them into your first house, or future homes. Especially water conservation.

Don't forget to tell your students about the Seawater Greenhouse, and create a lesson plan revolved around it, where students research it's process, and research a place in the world they believe can benefit from one of these greenhouses. This was my favorite thing to learn and research the entire semester!

Flocking is so cool! Take time to watch bird migration and movement when you are outside. Look into incorporating the simulation into the AP Bio class unit. Students love to play video games, and the other units currently used in the class, this could be a beneficial one to use.

Visit a bioinspired architectural building one day! Research if there are any in downtown Chicago, maybe create a fieldtrip and have students visit it for a project?

Use the Biology to Engineering thesaurus to help students better understand biology terms, by relating them to engineering ones, sometimes this can help the students relate better, since they are reading the system from another angle!

Continue to observe nature for your own inspirations!!!

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PBIA Design

I organized this PBIA to follow the course throughout the weeks chronologically. Starting with week 1 at the bottom, all the way to week 8 at the top. For each week, I included the discussion project, vocabulary, reading I found interesting, and a synopsis of the lesson and how I reacted to this weeks topics. At the bottom of each post I added hashtags to organize the information by keywords, such as what week it should be included in, the main point of the post, and if it was a lesson, reading, vocab, etc. At the bottom of each discussion I added what I learned from it, and what I will do with the information in the future. For the readings, I summarized why it was helpful and most interesting underneath the description. In each lesson review, I added the dates of questions I came up with during that unit, to mark my progression through the course.

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My Vision for the Future

I have learned so much from this course, especially about bioinspiration. My vision for the future would to see more of these ideas and designs incorporated into the world around me. For example, I would love to see the Seawater Greenhouse be incorporated into every area that struggles growing food and finding freshwater. Right now California is having a severe drought. This technology can be used to water the crops and food being grown there. I have learned that nature is not easy to replicate. Because science and the biological systems we study are so complex, it is best to keep bioinspiration ideas simple, do not replicate everything about the idea, just one main good one. I want to incorporate a lot of the ideas learned in these 8 units into my biology classroom this year. First, I would like to introduce my students to bioinspiration and biomimicry. I will admit that I even as a biology teacher did not know too much about this topic before the class. Showing students how so many amazing good inventions and ideas can come from nature, will hopefully inspire them to look at nature differently, like I do now. I ask more questions, what is the purpose of that system? Why is it constructed like that? etc. Second I would like to incorporate more clean energy ideas into my classroom and have my students create a presentation discussing a specific type of clean energy. I will explain to my students the harm of our current human systems, and why a closed loop system is better than a linear one, like we use now.

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How I Have Changed Throughout IB 535

I have changed so much from this course. The first thing I learned was that bioinspiration and biomimicry is not the same. Although something is inspired by nature, like a solar panel is from photosynthesis, does not mean it completely mimics nature. Plants use chloroplasts to absorb energy from the sun, where we create solar panels, that use different chemicals and technology to absorb the energy. That is not biomimicry but bioinspiration. I have also changed by wanting to add more alternative energy sources into my life. During the energy unit, I began researching new ways to save and reduce my dependency on running water. There are so many great ways to conserve water, and one of them is collecting rain water to use for watering plants and the lawn. I plan on building a rain water collection device out of a couple sealed garbage cans, and a pipe that runs from my gutters, then at the bottom of the garbage can, I will have a hose attached that I can use to water my plants. Also I would like to research energy saving windows that reduce the amount of heat absorbed from the sun, and brought into my house. Another interesting thing I learned was about some home that filter their air through tunneling underground, that cools the air in the summer, and heats the air in the winter. I would like to research this idea in the future, to see what I can incorporate into my home. Obviously some of the ideas we learned in the course are far from being available to the public in the near future, but I would like to do what I can to have a  less negative impact on this Earth, and start using closed loop systems.

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My favorite tool we discussed was the Structure and Behavior Function Model developed by Ashok Goel. It summarized complex biological systems, to help engineers better understand what is occurring.

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          “Leonardo forms the image of a plant in shapes that emphasize its pattern of growth, implying that the source of change is within matter and not transcendent of it. Leonardo expresses its [Nature's] cosmic operations through its particulars, deriving his understanding of the larger movements from observation of the smaller....” -Mary D.

This reading is important because it allows users to research and learn about the different information, experiments and research performed through bioinspiration. It is a comprehensive database of everything biomimicry and bioinspiration

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Biomimicry’s growing web of opportunity

For all the fascination with biomimicry, the field hasn’t generated a lot of products. But a lot is going on behind the scenes.

This reading is important because it discusses the opportunity biomimicry has on not only inventions and technology, but human interaction in the workplace.

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Week 8 Discussion : Review of Tools

Engineering to Biology Thesaurus:

I think this tool is great for engineers as far as using it as a reference if they are confused on wording when they are researching biological systems. However, I don’t think it is comprehensive enough to fully educate the engineer on what is occurring in nature. I think it is still in its beginning phase of creation, but with more help and resources it can really be useful to engineers. I also think it can be flipped to be used for biologists, when they are working with engineers trying to design the product or solve a problem. This thesaurus would be used more as a quick reference item.

Functional Modeling:

I think this is my favorite tool as far as helping the engineer understands the biological model simply. By including the What Why How of the system, engineers can get a better grasp at what is truly occurring in the system, without reading thousands of pages of reference material. I could tell just by looking at it myself, since I am not an engineer, but a biologist, this could help me understand the engineering design from the biology aspect. I think this is the best tool that requires the least amount of work to use.

BIDLab:

It seems that BIDLab is similar to the Engineering to Biology Thesaurus, in that it helps engineers with no prior biology background understand the system that is occurring in nature, however, unlike the E2B thesaurus it seems to be a more comprehensive resource for engineers to reference. Where the E2B would be for a quick term, the BIDLab could be used to begin and finish the research needed by the engineer, and research other topics that would help them finish the project.  Too bad it is not available outside of BIDLab, it would be a great resource.

Bio-Design Cube:

I can see how the cube would be helpful determining the strengths and weaknesses of the product design, but it would need training by the user to make sure that they are fully using it correctly. I like that a designer can used the bio design cube to help them understand how they can reduce the amount of energy they are needed by using solutions found in nature.

Systems View:

I like the organization of the systems view, I also had a hard time following along with each diagram, but I can see how this would be useful to engineers, since it is designed with them in mind. It would be nice to see detailed examples, of what the author created. But as far as visualizing a process and seeing where each step comes into play and how they interact with one another, this would help an engineer create a very complex model, that could mimic nature.

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Week 8 Discussion : Engineering Tools

What I learned: I did not realize all of the amazing tools that are out there for engineering. However, I especially did not realize how difficult it can be for engineers to try and work with biologists and biological systems to create new technology. Biological terminology is completely different from engineering terminology and these tools can reduce a lot of the stress that comes with trying to relate one to the other. I will definitely be referencing the E2B thesaurus in my classroom to give students different perspectives on what is occurring in that system.

Description:

The Engineering to Biology Thesaurus is a design tool that helps engineers without advanced biological knowledge to better understand nature’s process during engineering design, by correlating biological terms to an engineering domain or term. They are then paired with a synonymous function or flow term of functional basis, such as an engineering model. Biological terms are mapped to an engineering model, that frames the biological information to a context that engineers with be familiar with.  During the design process, engineers may encounter several challenges when performing biomimicry that can include terminology differences, understanding how biological systems work and discovering relevant biological solutions. The typical engineer has had little time or opportunity to fully learn about biological systems. The thesaurus was created to reduce the time and effort required to develop biologically inspired solutions and bridge the immense gap between the engineering and biological domains. For example, if a biological process is talking about mutations, the thesaurus would relate the term to engineers as the functional basis “change”. Mechanical energy in engineering terms would be contract in biological terms. Glucose from biology would be associated with chemical energy in engineering. The tool has two available formats one, that is sorted by engineering flow and function terminology, and another that is sorted alphabetically by biological terms.

The three main goals of the E2B thesaurus are to lessen the burden for engineers when working with the knowledge form the biological domain, and link the terminology, assist designers with establishing connects between the two domains, and finally facilitate bioinspired design during many steps of the engineering design process.

The creator, Jacquelyn Nagel, is an assistant Professor at James Madison University Department of Engineering. She has earned a PhD in Mechanical Engineering and a MS in Manufacturing Engineering. She specializes in biologically inspired design, biomimicry and manufacturing automation. Her research interests include sensors, rapid manufacturing and engineering education.

  Steps to Use the Thesaurus:

Define the engineering problem or need.  Mark the engineering function or flow terms that are associated with the problem or need

Look up the engineering terms in the E2B Thesaurus table sorted by engineering flow and function

Use the biological terms to search for biological systems that perform the function

Use all or a narrowed list of identified biological systems for design activities

  An Example of how the E2B Thesaurus translated the biological phenomenon of abscission to be better understood by engineers.

BIOLOGICAL PHENOMENON:

Leaf fall (abscission) is regulated by an interplay of the hormones ethylene and auxin. The effect of auxin on the detachment of old leaves from stems is quite different from root initiation. This process, called abscission, is the cause of autumn leaf fall. Leaves consist of a blade and a petiole that attaches the blade to the stem. Abscission results from the breakdown of a specific part of the petiole, the abscission zone. The time of abscission of leaves in nature appears to be determined in part by a decrease in the movement of auxin, produced in the blade through the petiole.

ENGINEERING UNDERSTANDING:

Leaf fall (separation) is regulated by an interplay of the liquid-liquid mixture materials. The effect of liquid-liquid mixture material on the separation of old leaves from stems is quite different from root initiation. This process, called separation, is the cause of autumn leaf fall. Leaves consist of a blade and a petiole that attaches the blade to the stem. Separation results from the breakdown of a specific part of the petiole, the abscission zone. The time of separation of leaves in nature appears to be determined in part by a decrease in the movement of liquid-liquid mixture material, produced in the blade through the petiole.

  Would it be helpful?

Yes, I do believe this tool would be helpful, especially for an engineer who has little to no biology background. When engineers are inspired by nature, they are mostly starting from scratch with their understanding of the actual scientific process. This tool gives the engineers a way of using their current terminology understanding of engineering and associate those terms with biological ones to better understand what is occurring.

Resources:

An Engineering to Biology Thesaurus for Engineering Designhttp://prosedesign.tamu.edu/publications/an_engineering-to-biology.pdf

An Engineering to Biology Thesaurus to Promote Better Collaboration: https://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/bitstream/1826/3719/4/An_Engineering-to-Biology_Thesaurus_To_Promote_Better_Collaboration_Creativity_and_Discovery-2009.pdf

Jacquelyn K. Nagel, Ph.D.: http://www.jmu.edu/engineering/people/nagel_j.html

Engineering to Biology Thesaurus: http://issuu.com/eggermont/docs/zq_issue_02final/103?e=2346520/1920397

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Week 7 Lesson Review : Bioinspiration in Architecture

There are so many amazing Architecture and civil engineering projects inspired by nature and biology. We need to take the characteristics of biological systems and apply it to our human made systems. Biological systems are zero waste and closed loop, where we are wasteful and linear. If we learned to optimize the whole system, instead of one goal, we can create not only beautiful architecture buildings, but one that are not harmful to the environment or the nature that they inspire.

Questions: August 1st, 2014

What bioinspired architecture is there in the United States? Chicago?

How can we incorporate bioinspired technology into our everyday lives? classroom?

Will bioinspired technology become more frequent in the future?

Source:

Alleyne, M. (2014).Bioinspiration in Architecture. IB535 Biology and Tech Innovation.

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TED Talk: Using nature's genius in architecture

How can architects build a new world of sustainable beauty? By learning from nature. At TEDSalon in London, Michael Pawlyn describes three habits of nature that could transform architecture and society: radical resource efficiency, closed loops, and drawing energy from the sun.

This TEDtalk is important because it summarizes the amazing architecture that is inspired by nature, and introduces the Seawater Greenhouse, and other magnificent structures around the world, and how we need to use closed loop systems NOT linear ones.

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Using Seawater to Farm in the Desert: Video

Charlie Paton, Founder & Managing Director of Seawater Greenhouse, discusses sustainable tech to grow food in arid areas. He speaks on Bloomberg Television's “The Pulse.” (Source: Bloomberg)

Why this video is important? SHOW THIS TO YOUR STUDENTS! It's a nice short video that introduces the awesome seawater greenhouse and it's technology.

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This week's vocabulary assignment was definitely my favorite. The Seawater Greenhouse technology is absolutely amazing, and to me is the future of eliminating starvation of people in areas with no abundance of freshwater or food. I also hope that the technology will be used to create freshwater for drinking from seawater, in order to provide freshwater to people who need it most.

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Week 7 Vocabulary : SeaWater GreenHouse

Seawater Greenhouse

Seawater Greenhouses. Seawatergreenhouse.com

Bioinspired Architectural Structure:

Seawater evaporates at the front of the greenhouse, which then creates a cool, humid environment inside the greenhouse. A portion of the evaporated seawater will then condense as fresh water that can be used to irrigate the crops inside.  If excess freshwater is created, it can be irrigated to water additional crops outside of the greenhouse.  The air that enters the greenhouse is cooled and humidified by seawater, and passes over the first evaporator. As the air leaves the crop growing area, it will then pass through a second evaporator, over which more seawater is flowing. The seawater was heated by the sun, in a network of pipes, which will allow the air to become hotter and more humid, leaving optimal conditions for growing crops. The heated air then meets a series of vertical pipes, which contains cool seawater. When the two meet, freshwater will condense as droplets that run down the base where it can be collected.

Diagram of the process. Seawatergreenhouse.com

Inspiration from Nature:

The Namib Desert is known as one of the most arid habitats on Earth. Since water is essential to all living things, the beetles have adapted ways to harness water from their environment. The Namib beetle has also inspired self-filling water bottles that draw moisture from the air. Although there is little water in the desert, there is fog. The beetles utilized their body surface to collect the water from the fog. The beetles adopt a head standing posture, facing into the wind. The fog water collects on their elytra and runs down to their mouth. The elytra contain structures with hydrophilic peaks, surrounded by hydrophobic areas, allowing fast forming droplets to occur, and roll down towards the head of the beetle.

Diagram of beetle collecting water from fog. Todayinba.com           Namib Beetle. AskNature.org

Process:

Freshwater is a very limited resource on this Earth. Not only do people need it to drink, they need it to feed crops and animals for food. Water shortage and the incapacity to grow food due to environmental conditions are two basic causes of poverty.  Starting 1991, Light Works LTD began developing the conceptual system. The first project commenced in 1992, with positive results, on the Canary Island of Tenerife. The company then created two research centers that worked in more extreme climates, increased water production rates and improved climate control.

Societal Win?

Yes, I believe the seawater greenhouse technology is a societal win. The system does not rely on scarce fresh water, costly water desalination equipment, or fossil fuel climate control systems. It also allows people to grow crops in areas that are desolate, and are not being used by humans, so that the crops are not taking up most of the areas suitable for people to live. Also, people can produce fruits, vegetables, and other crops in areas that are extremely dry, and cannot otherwise host plant life.      

Biomimicry or Bioinspiration?

I believe this system is a bioinspiration design. Although they are using the idea of creating freshwater from an area of little to no water source available, similar to the beetle, they are not trapping the water from just fog. The system uses complex heating and cooling of air and seawater to collect the freshwater, whereas the beetle is just allowing the droplets of freshwater to from on its elytra and run to its mouth. The greenhouse system does not use the idea of hydrophobic and hydrophilic parts to collect the freshwater, whereas the beetle does.

References:

Seawater Greenhouse: http://www.seawatergreenhouse.com/

A New Approach to Restorative Agriculture: http://www.globalwaterforum.org/2012/05/28/seawater-greenhouse-a-new-approach-to-restorative-agriculture/

Simulation of Fresh Water Production Using a Humidification Dehumidification Seawater Greenhouse http://bibliotecavirtualut.suagm.edu/Publicaciones_profesores/mgoosen/simulation%20of%20fresh%20water%20production%20using%20a%20humidification-dehumidification%20seawater%20greenhouse.pdf

VIDEO: Using Seawater to Farm in the Desert: http://www.bloomberg.com/video/using-seawater-to-farm-in-the-desert-Uptn~KIyS9Sea7cMQ8YUlg.html

Namib Beetle: http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-20465982

Fog Basking Behaviour and Water Collection Efficiency in Namib Beetles: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2918599/

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Week 7 Discussion : Design Your Own Bioinspired Dream Home

Reaction: This was my favorite activity! I really hope that I can incorporate green technology into my own home like this someday. This class has really helped me become aware of how wasteful I can be with resources, even electricity. I want to find ways to reduce my carbon footprint NOW. And I especially want to concentrate on water conservation. Although this is my dream house as far as technology. It is not my dream house structurally. haha. As you can see drawing is not my best quality.

Turner Dream House:

Window Shading System:

            On every window of the house would be a shading system that can adjust during the day as the suns position and angle changes. The window structures are similar to the ones found in Esplanade Theatre in Singapore. The structures were bio inspired by the Durant plant. The plant has semi rigid pressurized skin to protect the seeds housed inside; scientists have used this to create a “skin” on the outside of the building to protect the inhabitants from radiation, while insulating the space. The Esplanade Theatre also contains panels that change with the suns position to maximize shade.

            This system would be beneficial to society because it would allow the homeowner to reduce the amount of sunlight entering their windows. This in turn would reduce energy needed to cool the house in the summer. There would still be natural sunlight entering the home, however, it would not be so much so that the air conditioner would need to be running all the time during the summer, because of the heat produced inside the house by the sun.

Structural Supported Roof and Floors:

            The roof and entire supporting structure walls would be designed after the giant water lily. The leaves of the amazon water lily, gain structural support through their girder like support ribs. This allows the lily to have form, yet be very light. Architects are using this geometric pattern to create lightweight, sturdy buildings, which use less wood, due to the girder like support ribs. The technology to build such patterns is still being researched.

            This system would be beneficial to society because it would create a sturdier home that is light-weight in structure, yet strong and durable needed for a home. The house’s structure would require less wood to build, and would be lighter weight than other homes, saving on resources.

Wind Turbine Power System:

            On top of the roof, would be a wind turbine, which would help generate power for the house. Recently scientists have been inspired by the humpback whale, because of the shape of their flipper. On the flippers are a series of bumps called tubercles, these tubercles, when applied to the turbines, allow air flow to affectively move over the blade, and create a vortex to prevent air flow from stalling, therefore allowing the most movement of the blade to come from the wind. When the turbine turns around its axis, energy is created and then transferred to the house on a series of grids. However, wind power is not perfect, sometimes there is not enough airflow to create a large enough movement to produce the energy needed for the home, which is why most homes still need electricity as their backup.

            This system would be beneficial to society because it would allow the homeowners to create some of their own energy, right on their property, therefore reducing their dependency on electricity, by utilizing a natural green source for energy. Scientists have begun researching poop eating algae, that can help purify and clean water contaminated with human feces.  

Water Treatment System:

             Algal treatment of wastewater can offer an ecologically safe, less expensive, and more efficient means to remove excess nutrients and metals from the water. When humans flush the toilet or brush their teeth, the water runs down the drain, and goes to a treatment plant. However, with this water treatment system, households can repurpose their used, “dirty” water, into cleaner water than can be used to water plants, gardens, or even wash a car. This idea is that the algae break down the fecal and urine waste found in the water, and purifies it to a cleaner state. However, the water would not be of a drinking quality so it could not be used for food preparation, or cleaning dishes. More research needs to be done with algal treatment before this can be achieved.

            This system would be beneficial to society because it would allow the homeowner to reuse water that he or she has already consumed, and reuse it for watering plants, grass, or even washing a car. That way the amount of water used by one household is much less than what would be consumed without the unit.  

Resources:

Biomimetic Shading: www.biomimetic-architecture.com/2010/biomimetic-shading-techniques-of-the-esplanade-theatre/

Leaves Given Structural Support: www.asknature.org/strategy/902666afb8d8548320ae0afcd54d02ae

Poop Eating Algae: http://www.nioo.knaw.nl/node/2104

Humpback Whales Inspire New Wind Turbine Technology: http://www.stle.org/assets/news/document/techbeat_tlt_12-08.pdf

Wastewater Treatment With Suspended and Nonsuspened Algae:

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1529-8817.1998.340757.x/abstract;jsessionid=3F617C52E13F28063DF2F51B509C6C7B.f04t04?deniedAccessCustomisedMessage=&userIsAuthenticated=false

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Week 6 Lesson Review : Self Organization and Cooperative Behavior

It is amazing how much organisms work together to survive and thrive. We as humans, can learn the wisdom of crowds and collective intelligence from honeybees. When trying to solve a problem, it helps to work in groups. What surprised me the most is the flocking of birds. They do not have a leader like I learned from the discussion.

Questions: July 27, 2014

Birds really do not have a leader? How do they communicate where to go? How do they know the group is heading in the right direction?

Honeybees are awesome, is there an activity to show students the amazing group work they possess?

Source:

Alleyne, M. (2014). Biological Materials. IB535 Biology and Tech Innovation.

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Watch "The AquaJelly Robotic Jellyfish from Festo - InterSolar 2012" Video at Engineering TV

Lee Teschler of Machine Design magazine talks to Frank Langro of Festo about the AquaJelly, a robotic jellyfish that shows off their technology in a creative way inspired by nature. Hosted by: Lee Teschler Videography by: Terry Knight Edited by: Terry Knight

An awesome video posted by a IB535 student, shows the amazing movement of the AquaJelly Robot.