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ISSN (Print): 2666-1454
ISSN (Online): 2666-1462

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Review Article

Biomimicry: An Overview of Structures, Designs and Materials Inspired from Nature

Author(s): Arunachalam Vasanthanathan*, Uthirakumar Siddharth, Manivannan Vignesh and Radhakrishnan Pravin

Volume 13, Issue 1, 2020

Page: [3 - 15] Pages: 13

DOI: 10.2174/2666145413666200212103324

Price: $65

Abstract

Background: Nature has always played a vital role in the evolution of life forms. The design of products in accordance with nature’s design, popularly known as biomimicry, had played a vital role in pushing the technology and product effectiveness to the next level. Humans have long sought to mimic not just the design, but also the methodology adopted by certain animals. For example, the walking technique of vertebrates has been effectively mimicked for a quadruped robot to make a system more efficient by consuming less power. Thus indirectly, nature acts as a driving factor in pushing technological growth.

Methods: The principle objective of this paper is to provide an overview of popular bio mimicked products inspired by nature. This paper emphasizes a wide variety of products developed in the field of materials inspired by nature.

Results: Wall-climbing robots, Sonar, X-ray imaging, Sandwich and Honeycomb structures are some of the popular products and designs inspired by nature. They have resulted in better designs, better products with improved efficiency and thus have proven to be better alternatives. Some products and designs such as Samara drone, Riblet surfaces, DSSCs, Biomimetic Drills and Water turbines have plenty of scopes to replace conventional products and designs.

Conclusion: While plenty of products, structures and designs have successfully replaced older alternatives, there is still a large scope for biomimicry where it could potentially replace conventional products and designs to offer better efficiency.

Keywords: Biomimicry, design, efficiency, materials, nature-inspired design, structures, products.

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