Biologically Inspired Design

Smart Technologies

Smart Bio-Architecture System

Architecture

Introduction

spider leg (hydraulic actuation)

Schwendener's (1874) plate XI used to illustrate the presence of I-beam-shaped reinforcing tissues (in yellow) Source: http://www.amjbot.org

Bee Beetle antenna joint ( ball joint)

Rapid plant movement Venus fly trap (top), Mimosa leaf (below) Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapid_plant_m ovement

Biologically Inspired Design

Living Organisms
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Undergo metabolism Maintain homeostasis Possess a capacity to grow Respond to stimuli Reproduce Adapt to their environment in successive generations through natural selection 7. More complex living organisms can communicate through various means

Hallmarks of biological design

1. Modularity 2. Robustness 3. Kinetic Proofreading 4. Hierarchical Design

Wadhawan, V. K. (2007). Smart structures : Blurring the distinction between the living and the nonliving. Oxford ;New York: Oxford University Press.

Biologically Inspired Design

Electroactive polymers(EAPs)
EAPs are polymers that undergo a large amount of deformation when electrical power is applied.(up to 380%). Application: sensors, actuations, artificial muscles, etc.

Dielectric EAP - Actuation is caused by electrostatic forces between two electrodes that squeezes the polymer - Able to hold displacement without additional position - High mechanical energy density with low electrical power - Requires high actuation voltage(several kV)
ShapeShift, Computer Aided Architectural Design (ETHZ)/ the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (EMPA)

Ionic EAP - Actuation is caused by the displacement of ions inside the polymer - Need energy to hold displacement - Higher electrical power needed - Needs to be maintain wetness

Smart Technologies

Jellyfish, Environmental Robots Incorporated

Shape-memory alloy(SMA)
Metal alloys that returns to its original cold-forged shape when heated.

Main Types - Copper-zinc-aluminum-nickel - Copper-aluminum-nickel - Nickel-titanium (NiTi) alloys

One-way SMA

Two-way SMA

Living Glass, The Living

Reef, Urbana/ Radical_Craft

Smart Technologies

Homeostatic Facade System

DeckerYeadon

Biologically Inspired Design

flectofin
Institute of Building Structure and Structural Design, University of Stuttgart Hingeless and continuously adjustable flapping mechanism on the basis of biomimetic principles

Bird-Of-Paradise flower pollination mechanism Elastic Kinematics without hinges

Case Study

The Media-TIC Building

Architect: Cloud9 The Media-TIC building utilizes an inflatable Ethylene Tetra Fluoro Ethylene (ETFE) skin that is regulated by a solarpowered automatic digital light sensor as the sun changes throughout the day. The skin is made up of different ETFE air chambers that are expanded or contracted as the light changes. The ETFE skin allows light to filter through but shades persons inside from direct sunlight reducing the UV rays by 85%. The skin is also anti-adherent which means little need for cleaning the exterior.

Augmenting the air density of the ETFE cushions with nitrogen particles.

The first layer is transparent, the second (middle)and third layers have a reverse pattern design which, when inflated and joined together, create shade, or in other words a single opaque layer

Case Study

UPDATED

Air Forest

Architect: Mass Studies pneumatic pavilion absorbs passing wind currents to stay inflated and provides shade while allowing sunlight to filter through, creating a vibrant public space. The 1,400 square meter structure is easily transported, sets up in a snap without any building materials, and at night it lights up in a beautiful display of luminous pillars. The nylon structure consists of 9 hexagonal canopy units and is stabilized by anchors and lighting equipment in each of its 35 columns, allowing it to undulate and shift in wind and changing weather.

Pneumatic Systems

Funktionide

Designer: Stephan Ulrich, Elpodo studio

Pneumatics/ Hydraulics
A branch of technology, which studies the application of use of pressurized gas or liquid to actuate motion
AirJelly, Festo

Advantage over Mechanical actuators - Comparably more cheaper, safer, flexible, simple and reliable

Pneumatics vs. Hydraulics - Pneumatics(80-100psi): easy control, standard components, little maintenance required, compressed gas can be stored - Hydraulics(1000-5000psi): no energy loss(liquid), capable of moving higher loads, minimum spring action(liquid is basically incompressible)

Jamming Skin Enabled Locomotion, iRobot

Smart Technologies

Soft Robotic Gripper based on PnueNets, Whitesides Group, Harvard

Soft robotics: Biological inspiration, state of the art, and future research
Deepak Trivedi, Christopher D. Rahn, William M. Kierb and Ian D. Walker

Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University Department of Biology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Clemson University Examples of hydroskeletons and muscular hydrostats: (a) tube feet in starfish, (b) octopus arms, (c) colonial anemone, (d)mammalian tongue, (e) squid, (f) elephant trunk, (g) echinoid, (h) Illex illecebrosus, (i) inchworm, and (j) snail feet. Classification of robots based on materials and degrees of freedom. Hatched area represents empty set. A schematic of open (a) and closed (b) stomata in plant cells caused by osmotic pressurisation. Capabilities of hard and soft robots: (a) dexterity, (b) position sensing, (c) manipulation and (d) loading.

Soft Robotics for Chemists

Filip Ilievski, Aaron D. Mazzeo, Robert F. Shepherd, Xin Chen, and George M. Whitesides Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University Kavli Institute for Bionano Science & Technology

The objective of this work is to demonstrate a type of design that provides a range of behaviors, and that offers chemists a test bed for new materials and methods of fabrication for soft robots. Our designs use embedded pneumatic networks (PneuNets) of channels in elastomers that inflate like balloons for actuation.[30] We used a series of parallel chambers embedded in elastomers as repeating components. Using intuition and empirical experimentation, we stacked[31] or connected these repetitive components to design and test prototypical structures that provide complex motion. In this type of design, complex motion requires only a single source of pressure. Appropriate distribution, configuration, and size of the PneuNets determine the resulting movement.

Telemetric Artificial Skin for Soft Robot

Mitsuhiro HAKOZAKI, Katsuhiko NAKAMURA and Hiroyuki SHINODA Department of Electrical & Electronic Engineering, Tokyo University of Agriculture & Technology

Robots of new generation to coexist with human harmoniously will require the sensor skin that is soft to cover the whole body. But it would be very difficult to fabricate such a skin with existing technology, because it is laborious to place and wire vast amount of sensor elements on the 3-dimensionally configured robot surface. In this paper we propose a novel method to fabricate such a sensor skin. The skin contains sensor chips which receive the electrical power and transmit the tactile signal without wires. The skin is configured in an arbitrary shape easily, and it is elastic and tough because each sensing element does not need any fragile wires. The fabrication of the prototype telemetry tactile chip and experimental results of multiple chip signal detection are shown.

Mechanical Pneumatic Actuators

Pneumatic Gripper Rotary Actuators Linear Actuators Robotic Tool Changers Robotic Load Limiter Multi Motion Actuators O-ring Automated Assembly Feed Escapements

Pneumatic Muscle Actuators

FLARE WHITEvoid interactive art & design pneumatic building facade system

AirArm By Festo

SkinRite10 Silicone

Ecoflex

Polydimethylsiloxane(PDMS)

Sil-Poxy Silicone Adhesive

Syringe 100CC/ML

Standard 3/16" Flexible Airline Tubing for Aquariums

10 PCS Aquarium Airline Air Tube Tubing Connectors Filters

Active Aqua Commercial Air Pump with 8 outlets, 70L per minute

Black & Decker ASI300 Air Station Inflator

3 Gallon, 100 PSI Oilless Electric Pancake Air Compressor

DC 12V 4V230C-08 Inner Guide Type 3 Position 5 Way Solenoid Valve

Arduino and electronic components

Sensor

A flex sensor and a photocell sensor were tested to see how effectively Firefly can bridge between the preliminary designed geometry and the micro-controller. The geometry was built using Grasshopper and Rhino, as a parametric/ generative model. The sensor data that flows into the Firefly components are converted using ReMap component and Smooth component in order to manipulate the parameters of the geometry.

A flex sensor and a photocell sensor were tested to see how effectively Firefly can bridge between the preliminary designed geometry and the micro-controller. The geometry was built using Grasshopper and Rhino, as a parametric/ generative model. The sensor data that flows into the Firefly components are converted using ReMap component and Smooth component in order to manipulate the parameters of the geometry.