1. Sensors and Measurement:
Inspirations from Nature
A/Prof Gourab Sen Gupta
Engineering Programme Director
School of Engineering and Advanced Technology (SEAT)
Massey University
New Zealand
New Zealand
2. Biomimetics:
Science mimicking nature
Wikipedia:
Biomimetics or biomimicry is the imitation of the
models, systems, and elements of nature for the purpose
of solving complex human problems.
Webster dictionary:
Biomimetics is the study of the formation, structure, or
function of biologically produced substances and
materials and biological mechanisms and processes
especially for the purpose of synthesizing similar
products by artificial mechanisms which mimic natural
ones
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4. Nature has inspired some
glorious inventions
human inventions paralleling nature
are virtually everywhere
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5. Inventions Inspired by Nature
Velcro
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Photographs by Scott Camazine; Custom Medical Stock Photo
http://www.bloomberg.com/slideshow/2013-08-18/14-smart-inventions-inspired-by-nature-biomimicry.html#slide2
6. Inventions Inspired by Nature
Gecko Feet
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Photograph by Mark Moffett/Minden Pictures; Courtesy Michael Bartlett and Alfred J. Crosby/UMass Amherst
http://www.bloomberg.com/slideshow/2013-08-18/14-smart-inventions-inspired-by-nature-biomimicry.html#slide12
7. Inventions Inspired by Nature
Bullet Train
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Photographs by Hiromi Okano/Corbis; West Japan Railway Co. via Bloomberg
http://www.bloomberg.com/slideshow/2013-08-18/14-smart-inventions-inspired-by-nature-biomimicry.html#slide4
8. Inventions Inspired by Nature
Spider Web Glass
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Photograph by Monica Murphy; Illustration by Arnold Glas
http://www.bloomberg.com/slideshow/2013-08-18/14-smart-inventions-inspired-by-nature-biomimicry.html#slide13
9. Inventions Inspired by Nature
Firefly LED
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Photographs by Gail Shumway/Getty Images; Courtesy Nicolas André
http://www.bloomberg.com/slideshow/2013-08-18/14-smart-inventions-inspired-by-nature-biomimicry.html#slide16
10. Inventions Inspired by Nature
Bombardier Beetle
Their backsides have an amazing combustion chamber about
one millimetre long or smaller.
They mix two chemicals: hydroquinone and hydrogen peroxide to
cause a very fast reaction to heat up the water which is also
there.
It tries to expand and vaporise but initially it can’t until an exhaust
valve, which is just a bit of cuticle, opens when the pressure rise
is sufficient to make it give way.
When the exhaust valve goes, there is a vapour explosion.
Spray gun
All this happens in 1/400th or even 1/500th of a second.
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11. Inventions Inspired by Nature
Bombardier Beetle
As the explosion takes place there is an expansion which causes
the whole chamber to begin to pinch the inlet valve that stops
more stuff coming in.
People are already using this pulse combustion idea for
engines
We’re able to actually use the idea of the beetle, not on the
chemistry but on the physics of this valve system, to actually get
some very unique spray gun applications.
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http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/interviews/interview/1139/
12. Lets see..
How nature and biology is a
source of inspiration for sensors
and measurements
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13. Honeybee Navigation
Honey bees have many navigation tools that they can use: the sun, visual
landmarks, and the earth’s electromagnetic field.
The photoreceptors in the dorsal region of the honeybee's compound eyes
exhibit a strong sensitivity to polarized light
Honeybees are capable of using the pattern of polarized light that the sun
creates in the sky to navigate to a food source even on cloudy days
They rely most heavily on physical landmarks: pattern matching
Bees contain a region of magnetite in the front of their abdomens. They are
able to detect electromagnetic fields to regulate their internal clocks and to
guide them as they build combs within the hive
Warrant E., Nilsson D.-E.Wehner R., Labhart T.2006 Polarization vision. In Invertebrate vision
(eds Warrant E., Nilsson D.-E.), pp. 291–348. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Labhart T. 1980 Specialized photoreceptors at the dorsal rim of the honeybee's compound eye:
polarizational and angular sensitivity. J. Comp. Physiol. 141, 19–30.
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14. Plants can sense too….
Plants also offer ideas for imitation and
they have evolved in various ways
Some plants exhibit sensing and actuation
capabilities that we normally expect from
biological creatures.
Mimosa and sensitive fern (onoclea sensibilis)
bend their leaves when touched
There are also bug-eating plants with a
leaf-derived trap that closes the ‘door’
locking unsuspecting bugs that enter the
cage and become prey.
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16. Tactile Feeler/Antenna
Insect antennae are equipped with
mechanoreceptors
Capable of retrieving information about the
antennal vibration (by means of the Johnston’s organ)
bending (by means of the chordotonal organs and
campaniform sensillae)
Johnston's organ is a collection of sensory cells found in the second segment of the
antennae
Chordotonal organs are stretch receptor organs in insects used to detect the position
of the body antennae which causes stretching on the cuticle of the Johnston's organ
Campaniform sensilla are mechanoreceptors found in insects. When the exoskeleton
bends the resulting strain stimulates the sensilla.
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17. Science mimicking nature (bio mimicry)
The ingenuity and inventions of nature’s tiny
organisms hold the keys to overcoming sensing
and measurement challenges
A biology inspired branch of sensor research has
emerged (bio mimicry)
Nature’s technology does not create pollution
and its manufacturing processes are sustainable
Nature’s products are biodegradable and durable
Designs enable multifunctional tasks
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18. Redundancy
Having tens or even hundreds of parallel
receptor cells, improves the signal-to-noise
ratio through averaging.
This also reduces the likelihood of error due
to loss of or failure of a receptor organ.
A great lesson from nature is redundancy
In most biological systems there are many
instances of redundancy.
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19. Biomimetic design
Concepts from a non-engineering domain
such as biology has sparked inspiration and
innovation for a variety of technologies
Bacteria, plants, insects, mammals, reptiles
and the like have diverse forms, solving a
variety of engineering functions
May be considered adaptive systems with elegant
methods of sensing and communication
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20. Biological systems offer a lot….
Nature has solved engineering problems such as self-healing
abilities, environmental exposure tolerance and resistance,
hydrophobicity, self-assembly, and harnessing solar energy.
Biological systems offer exemplary methods of-
Flight
Imaging
Sensing
Adaptation to environment
Locomotion
Engineers have learned from these and created novel
technologies
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21. Biological systems offer a lot….
Nature has been developing biological sensors
for billions of years
Lasting solutions have evolved to fulfill unique
ecological niches, which make them ideal for study
and imitation.
Not only is nature rich with sensing methods, it
provides strategies to use these sensors
Biological sensors typically exhibit low energy
requirements, high sensitivity and redundancy.
They exhibit parallel sampling and processing of
sensory information
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22. Sensor Categorization based on nature
Exteroceptive Sensors
Deal with the external world
Where is something?
How does it look?
How big is it? (camera, laser rangefinder, haptic sensors)
Proprioceptive Sensors
Deal with self
Am I perfectly horizontal? (inclinometer)
Where am I? (GPS, localisation)
How much is my joint bent? (encoders, flex sensors)
Which way am I facing, how fast am I turning? (compass,
gyroscopes)
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23. Sensor Categorization based on nature
Interoceptive Sensors
Deal with self although without conscious
perception
What is my battery charge? (voltmeter)
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24. Biology inspired sensing and
measurements - Examples
Log-polar CCD motion tracking system
Modeled after the primate’s retina.
High density of photoreceptors in the center of the retina and
decreasing density moving towards the periphery
Foveal vision
The CCD imager has a circular shape instead
of the traditional rectangular shape with a
concentrated central region having high-resolution,
just like the fovea of the retina.
Reduces cost of image acquisition
lower number of pixels, shorter processing time and lower power
consumption
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Jun Ohta, Smart CMOS Image Sensors and Applications, CRC Press (2007), pp. 93 - 136
25. Log-Polar CCD Camera
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F. Berton, G. Sandini, G. Metta, Anthropomorphic Visual Sensors, Encyclopedia of
Sensors, American Scientific Publishers, Vol. X, pp. 1-16
26. Biology inspired sensing and
measurements - Examples
Sonar receiver system
Modeled after dolphin echolocation.
The teeth of the lower jawbone form arrays of resonant
receivers which allow for beam forming with the required
delays derived acoustically by the jawbone fatty channels
As sound waves travel through the water, they are
absorbed by the dolphin’s jaw and are directed up along
this fatty canal.
With a jaw bone on each side of its head, a dolphin is able to
use its jaws much like we would use pinna on the sides of our
head – allowing them to pinpoint where a sound is coming
from.
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27. Dolphin’s acoustic receiver
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Peter Dobbins, Dolphin sonar – modelling a new receiver concept, Bioinspiration &
Biomimetics, 2 (2007) 19-29
Morgana M. Trexler, Ryan M. Deacon, Artificial Senses and Organs: Natural Mechanisms
and Biomimetic Devices, in Biomimetics: Nature-Based Innovation, Ed. Yoseph Bar-
Cohen, CRC Press (2012), pp.35 - 94
28. Biology inspired sensing and
measurements - Examples
Night-vision goggles
Modeled after a fish known as loosejaws
Uses a night-vision goggles to snoop on
other fish
Using lens filter and fluorescent material, it
produces red light with such a long
wavelength that it is almost infrared
Most other fish do not see the red light
because their eyes do not have the
necessary visual pigment.
Loosejaws, on the other hand, have a
special membrane layer on their eyes to
detect red light.
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29. Biology inspired sensing and
measurements - Examples
Fly eyes and solar panels
Fly (and moth) eyes have a series of parallel ridges and grooves which
allow light to pass through, instead of being reflected
This techno trick allows the fly to soak up light coming from all different
angles, helping it to see in very low light levels.
Scientists have used this technique to develop a new synthetic light-
capturing material.
When used on solar panels, this synthetic material increases the ability
of the panels to capture sun’s photon energy by 10%
Wilson, S.J. Wilson; Hutley, M.C. (1982). "The Optical Properties of 'Moth Eye' Antireflection
Surfaces". Journal of Modern Optics 29 (7): 993–1009.
Karl S. Kruszelnicki, Fly eyes inspire solar panel,
http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2015/12/01/4361433.htm
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32. The beetle Melanophila acuminata can detect
infrared radiation (IR) from distant forest fires by
specialized IR sensilla in two metathoric pit organs
containing about 60 to 70 dome-shaped sensilla.
Incoming IR radiation is absorbed in the complex
structure of the sensilla and pressurize the water
inside the spongy intermediate layer.
The pressure rise deforms the membrane of the dendritic
tip of a mechanosensitive cell.
Beetle’s IR Sensor
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H. Schmitz, H. Bleckmann, The photomechanic infrared receptor for the
detection of forest fires in the beetle Melanophila acuminata (Coleoptera:
Buprestidae), Journal of Comparative Physiology A (1998) 182: 647-657
33. Research done at Peter Grünberg Institute, Forschungszentrum Jülich, and
Institute for Zoology, Bonn University, Germany
The cavity of the technical sensor is closed on one side by a window and on the
other side by a thin membrane.
The IR radiation being absorbed produces a change in pressure or volume,
respectively, due to the change of the state of the fluid.
The deflection of the membrane caused by this pressure increase can be read out
by, e.g., a capacitive detector or a tunneling displacement transducer.
Beetle inspired IR Sensor
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Bousack, Herbert, Kahl, Thilo, Schmitz, Anke,
Schmitz, Helmut, Towards Improved Airborne
Fire Detection Systems Using Beetle Inspired
Infrared Detection and Fire Searching Strategies,
Micromachines 2015, 6, 718-746;
doi:10.3390/mi6060718
34. Elephantnose fish Electrolocation
The elephant-nose fish Gnatonemus peterssii, use
electric fields to orient in the absence of light.
The fish’s electrolocation system consists of an electric
organ in the tail to produce the electric field, numerous
electroreceptors in the skin to sense the field and the
brain for signal processing.
By using this ‘active electrolocation’ the fish can
investigate the electrical properties, the distance, the
size and the shape of targets.
Mimicking these sensing features can generate
miscellaneous sensors, e.g. a sensor to localize
targets or a distance sensor.
Potential applications are a bionic
electrolocation sensor for coronary diagnostics
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http://www.fz-juelich.de/pgi/pgi-8/EN/Research/06-Biomimetic Sensors/02-
Electrolocation_artikel.html?nn=898248
35. Conclusion
Companies seeking breakthrough products tend to
ignore the greatest invention machine in the universe:
life’s more than three-billion-year history of evolution by
natural selection
When you set out to sense or measure something, ask
yourself “how will nature do it?”
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Editor's Notes
Velcro
After a hunting trip in the Alps in 1941, Swiss engineer George de Mestral’s dog was covered in burdock burrs. Mestral put one under his microscope and discovered a simple design of hooks that nimbly attached to fur and socks.
After years of experimentation, he invented Velcro — and earned U.S. Patent 2,717,437 in October 1952. Benyus said it is probably the best-known and most commercially successful instance of biomimicry.
Gecko Feet Adhesives
Geckos are born with the mythical ability to scale smooth walls and scamper upside-down across ceilings. The source of their grip is millions of microscopic hairs on the bottom of their toes. Each hair's attraction is minuscule, but the net effect is powerful.
Scientists estimate that the setae from the tiny toes of a single gecko could theoretically carry 250 pounds. The real trick is that by changing the direction of the setae, the grip is instantly broken: no sticky residues, no tearing, no pressure necessary.
A team of University of Massachusetts, Amherst, researchers has developed Geckskin, an adhesive so strong that an index-card-size strip can hold up to 700 pounds. A form of gecko tape could replace sutures and staples in the hospital. And the ability to don a pair of gecko-tape gloves and scale walls like Spiderman may not be far off.
Shinkansen Bullet Train
High-speed trains can literally cause headaches. That's why Japan limits their acceptable noise-pollution level, which can be particularly high when the trains emerge from tunnels. As they drive through, air pressure builds up in waves and, when the nose emerges, can produce a shotgun-like thunderclap heard for a quarter mile.
Eiji Nakatsu, a bird-watching engineer at the Japanese rail company JR-West, in the 1990s took inspiration from the kingfisher, a fish-eating fowl that creates barely a ripple when it darts into water in search of a meal. The train’s redesigned nose — a 50-foot-long steel kingfisher beak — didn't just solve the noise problem; it reduced power use and enabled faster speeds.
Spider Web Glass
Certain spiders protect their delicately crafted insect nets with a special silk rope that reflects ultraviolet rays. Birds can see the ultraviolet rays and recognize the webs as obstacles they should avoid.
If engineers can reproduce the effect, it might save birds from their occasional accidental suicide runs into glassy buildings. German engineers at Arnold Glas copied the spiders and glazed their Ornilux-brand glass with a web-like pattern of ultraviolet-reflecting coating to save the birds from high-speed headaches.
Firefly Lightbulbs
When insects of the genus Photuris light fires in their bellies, the radiance is amplified by their anatomy — sharp, jagged scales, according to research published in January by scientists from Belgium, France, and Canada.
Based on this observation, the scientists then built and laid a similar structure on a light-emitting diode (LED), which increased its brightness by 55 percent.
Basically this beetle is being preyed on. Creatures like birds, spiders, ants are trying to get at this creature and they usually don’t win. They’re usually stunned by this horrible mixture which is hot. Although they won’t be killed by it they’re so stunned they won’t be able to do anything for a few minutes and the beetle runs away.
Opening the exhaust valve (cuticle) is like you unscrewing the cap of a radiator of a car engine that’s hot and the water still boiling as the pressure goes off.
The leaves of Mimosa have the capability to display thigmonasty (touch-induced movement). In the sensitive plant, the leaves respond to being touched, shaken, heated or rapidly cooled. The speed of the response depends on the magnitude of the stimulus. Hitting the leaf hard with the flick of a finger will cause the leaf to close in the blink of an eye whereas a gentle touch or modest heat source applied to leaflets at the tip of a leaf will result in a slower response and the propagation of the stimulus along the leaf can be observed.
In Mimosa, the mechanical or heat stimulus induces an electrical signal, similar to the electrical potentials in nerve cells, that can move from cell to cell at a high rate. When the electrical potential reaches specialized "motor cells" in pulvini at the base of each leaflet, the folding is caused by a rapid efflux of potassium followed by rapid water transport out of the motor cells. If the applied stimulus is great enough, the signal produced is strong enough that it can propagate further and faster and cause the rest of the leaf to fold in several places.
A foveated sensor is an image sensor inspired by the human retina. In a human retina, photoreceptors are arranged so that their density around the center or fovea is larger than in the periphery.
The pixel size increases by square root, that is the pixel pitch logarithmically decreases. The circle area of the center shows the control circuit.
Jun Ohta, Smart CMOS Image Sensors and Applications, CRC Press (2007), pp. 93 - 136
F. Berton, G. Sandini, G. Metta, Anthropomorphic Visual Sensors, Encyclopedia of Sensors, American Scientific Publishers, Vol. X, pp. 1-16
It turns out that all the work that used to be done by the pinna – amplifying sound and directing it to a dolphin’s inner ears – is now done by a dolphin’s lower jaw. A dolphin’s jaw is filled with a kind of fatty substance that leads directly up into their middle ear. As sound waves travel through the water, they are absorbed by the dolphin’s jaw and are directed up along this fatty canal. With a jaw bone on each side of its head, a dolphin is able to use its jaws much like we would use pinna on the sides of our head – allowing them to pinpoint where a sound is coming from. And since the fat in their jaws is similar in density to water, this allows sound waves to travel easily to their inner ears.
This fancy new lower-jaw hearing system is made extra effective with the help of dolphins’ teeth. The more-or-less evenly spaced rows of 22 teeth that dolphins have in each jaw actually help them to amplify sound. Their teeth act a bit like an antenna, with the teeth resonating at frequencies that dolphins use for their echolocation. This hearing system likely evolved in tandem with dolphins’ echolocation ability.
Although dolphins might have lost their cute gerbil-ears, they appear to have traded them in for some rather sophisticated auditory technology. It’s yet another bizarre feature of an animal that has taken a rather unorthodox evolutionary path.
Peter Dobbins, Dolphin sonar – modelling a new receiver concept, Bioinspiration & Biomimetics, 2 (2007) 19-29
H. Schmitz, H. Bleckmann, The photomechanic infrared receptor for the detection of forest fires in the beetle Melanophila acuminata (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), Journal of Comparative Physiology A (1998) 182: 647-657
Bousack, Herbert, Kahl, Thilo, Schmitz, Anke, Schmitz, Helmut, Towards Improved Airborne Fire Detection Systems Using Beetle Inspired Infrared Detection and Fire Searching Strategies, Micromachines 2015, 6, 718-746; doi:10.3390/mi6060718
Abstract:
Every year forest fires cause severe financial losses in many countries of the world. Additionally, lives of humans as well as of countless animals are often lost. Due to global warming, the problem of wildfires is getting out of control; hence, the burning of thousands of hectares is obviously increasing. Most important, therefore, is the early detection of an emerging fire before its intensity becomes too high. More than ever, a need for early warning systems capable of detecting small fires from distances as large as possible exists. A look to nature shows that pyrophilous “fire beetles” of the genus Melanophila can be regarded as natural airborne fire detection systems because their larvae can only develop in the wood of fire-killed trees. There is evidence that Melanophila beetles can detect large fires from distances of more than 100 km by visual and infrared cues. In a biomimetic approach, a concept has been developed to use the surveying strategy of the “fire beetles” for the reliable detection of a smoke plume of a fire from large distances by means of a basal infrared emission zone. Future infrared sensors necessary for this ability are also inspired by the natural infrared receptors of Melanophila beetles.
Distortions of equipotential field lines in the vicinity of the fish due to different targets. The density of the field lines on the skin of the fish is influenced by the material, the size and the distance of the target.