Biomimetics and the case of the remarkable ragworms

Abstract

Biomimetics is a rapidly growing field both as an academic and as an applied discipline. This paper gives a short introduction to the current status of the discipline before it describes three approaches to biomimetics: the mechanism-driven, which is based on the study of a specific mechanism; the focused organism-driven, which is based on the study of one function in a model organism; and the integrative organism-driven approach, where multiple functions of a model organism provide inspiration. The first two are established approaches and include many modern studies and the famous biomimetic discoveries of Velcro and the Lotus-Effect, whereas the last approach is not yet well recognized. The advantages of the integrative organism-driven approach are discussed using the ragworms as a case study. A morphological and locomotory study of these marine polychaetes reveals their biomimetic potential, which includes using their ability to move in slippery substrates as inspiration for novel endoscopes, using their compound setae as models for passive friction structures and using their three gaits, slow crawling, fast crawling, and swimming as well as their rapid burrowing technique to provide inspiration for the design of displacement pumps and multifunctional robots.

Paradigms for biologically inspired design

“…The most famous biomimetic example -that of Velcro -followed this pattern as the Swiss engineer George de Mestrel allegedly got the inspiration for inventing Velcro in the 1940s, when he was out walking with his dog and noticed how the seed chambers of the burdock plant -the cockleburs -attached themselves to the fur of his dog 6 . Upon his return, he started to investigate the 100s of small hooks on the cockleburs, which after a lot of trial and error let him to patent the unique two-way fasteners consisting of one side of tiny hooks inspired by the cockleburs and one side of soft loops inspired by the dog's fur.…”

“…The exponential growth of research into biologically inspired design since then has been documented by a number of studies focusing on either the number of published papers [6][7][8] or the number of new patents 9,10 .…”

“…While we have probably always been inspired by nature in our technological endeavours ranging from using sharp tools to imitate animals' teeth and claws to Leonardo Da Vinci's attempt to develop flying machines based on studies of bat and bird wing morphology, the systematization of this through the scientific disciplines of bionics, biomimetics and biologically inspired design first became established in the second part of the last century 6 . The exponential growth of research into biologically inspired design since then has been documented by a number of studies focusing on either the number of published papers [6][7][8] or the number of new patents 9,10 .…”

A glimpse of superb tribological designs in nature

“…The cocklebur fruit is covered with small curved barbs that could hook the fur of animals and help to spread the seeds. De Mestral invented the most widely used velcro based on the adhesion mechanism of this fruit (58,59).…”

Social insects inspire human design

“…However, the formal use of biology as a design tool, known as biomimicry or biomimetics (Benyus 1997;Vincent et al 2006), is a recent and rapidly accelerating enterprise in academia (Hesselberg 2007) and industry (Bonser 2006). Biomimicry approaches the biological world as a catalogue of successful designs, honed by natural selection, that can be imitated or translated to solve human problems.…”