What is bionics?
To swim like a dolphin, to fly like the birds or to design components delicate but nevertheless rugged like a bamboo halm!
Product developers have already been inspired by these main springs for a long time. When nature is studied and the gained knowledge applied systematically for engineering purposes, this is called bionics, biomimetics, biomimicry or bio-inspired design.
All of them are artificial words. Biomimetics was coined by Otto Schmitt in the 1950’s and is made of the words bios (life) and mimicry (imitation), whereas bionics was coined by Jack E. Steel in 1958. There is more than one theory what the components of bionics might be. Some say it is a compound word of bion (unit of life) and the suffix –ic (to be like). Others state that it is a combination of biology and electronics. Biomimicry is again made up of the components bios (life) and mimicry (imitation). Bio-inspired design comes from the fact that the resulting engineering solutions are inspired by biological rolemodels.
Bionics is characterised by studying design and process principles of nature and applying these to new engineering products
Conclusions drawn from biology, more precisely from the animated and unanimated nature, ought to be abstracted to identify significant principles. These are offered to the engineer modified in a way that they can be easily applied product-specific and procedural.
(Knut Braun)
Bionics is an area of scientific intersection. The main interface is the interface between biologists and engineers, architects and designers. They discuss demands and cognitions to achieve the main goal: technological innovations!!
The applications of bionics
Bionics has a wide range of applications. This is illustrated by the following table:
Bionics in design
- Bionics in design
- Bionc materials
- Bionic prosthetics
- Bionic robotics
Bionics in processes
- Climate and energy bionics
- Bionic construction
- Bionic sensors
- Bionic kinematics and dynamics
Bionics in information processes
- Application of neurology
- Application of the evolutionary theory
- Bionically optimised processes
- Bionically optimised organisations