This document is a technical report submitted by M. Sharath Kumar Raju, a student at Sreenidhi Institute of Science and Technology, for their B.Tech in Biotechnology. The report discusses the field of biomimetics, providing examples of biomimetic designs in architecture, materials, and robotics. It explains how structures from nature like spider silk and cockroach legs have inspired new materials and robot designs. The conclusion states that biomimetics is a useful tool for design that allows imitation of nature's solutions.

1. BIOMIMETICS
Submitted
By
M.SHARATH KUMAR RAJU (11311A2346)
B. Tech Biotechnology II Year II semester
DEPARTMENT OF BIOTECHNOLOGY
SREENIDHI INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Yamnampet, Ghatkesar (M), R.R. Dist., Hyderabad - 501301.
Andhra Pradesh, India.
May 2015

2. CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that Mr._____M.SHARATH KUMAR RAJU______________________bearing
Roll No. 11311A2346_____________________________has submitted Techinical report
entitled__BIOMIMITICS___________________ for B. tech (Biotechnology) III year II semester
Head Biotechnology
Sreenidhi Institute ofScience and Technology Yamnampet, Ghatkesar, Hyderabad
Accredited by NBA & AICTE and Permanently Affiliated to JNTUniversity, Hyderabad
Department of Biotechnology- Phone: 9396937949

3. Index
SL .NO CONTENTS PAGE NO
1. Introduction 1
2. Background 2
3. General Principles 3
4. Designs
4-8
5. Conclusion
9

4. Introduction
Biomimetic design attempt to understand the principles behind biological systems
and use these principles in an architectural design. The objective is to employ
biomimetics as a tool in architectural design and the aim of biomimetics in
architecture is innovation. Innovation will help to solve current problems in
architecture and environment, and new fields of architecture and design will be
explored. Biomimetics in architecture will help develop a culture of active
environmental design.
Biomimetics or biomimicry is the imitation of the models, systems, and elements
of nature for the purposeof solving complex human problems.The terms
biomimetics and biomimicry come from Ancient Greek: (bios), life, and
(mīmēsis), imitation, from (mīmeisthai), to imitate, from (mimos), actor. A closely
related field is bionics.
Living organisms have evolved well-adapted structures and materials over
geological time through natural selection. Biomimetics has given rise to new
technologies inspired by biological solutions at macro and nanoscales. Humans
have looked at nature for answers to problems throughout our existence. Nature
has solved engineering problems such as self-healing abilities, environmental
exposure tolerance and resistance, hydrophobicity, self-assembly, and harnessing
solar energy.

5. Background
One of the early examples of biomimicry was the study of birds to enable human
flight. Although never successfulin creating a "flying machine", Leonardo da
Vinci (1452–1519) was a keen observer of the anatomy and flight of birds, and
made numerous notes and sketches on his observations as well as sketches of
"flying machines". The Wright Brothers, who succeeded in flying the first heavier-
than-air aircraft in 1903, derived inspiration from observations of pigeons in flight.
Biomimetics was coined by the American biophysicist and polymath Otto Schmitt
during the 1950s.It was during his doctoralresearch that he developed the Schmitt
trigger by studying the nerves in squid, attempting to engineer a device that
replicated the biological system of nerve propagation. He continued to focus on
devices that mimic natural systems and by 1957 he had perceived a converse to the
standard view of biophysics at that time, a view he would come to call
biomimetics.
In 1969 the term biomimetics was used by Schmitt to title one of his papers, and by
1974 it had found its way into Webster's Dictionary, bionics entered the same
dictionary earlier in 1960 as "a science concerned with the application of data
about the functioning of biological systems to the solution of engineering
problems". Bionic took on a different connotation when Martin Caidin referenced
Jack Steele and his work in the novel Cyborg which later resulted in the 1974
television series The Six Million Dollar Man and its spin-offs. The term bionic then
became associated with "the use of electronically operated artificial bodyparts"
and "having ordinary human powers increased by or as if by the aid of such
devices". Because the term bionic tookon the implication of supernatural strength,
the scientific community in English speaking countries largely abandoned it.

6. Designing
 Architecture
 Materials
 Robets
BIOMIMICRY/BIMIMETICS: GENERAL PRINCIPLES
AND PRACTICAL EXAMPLES
Architecture
Eastgate centere,central Harare, Zimbabwe
Designing for thermal control
The Eastgate Centre's design is a deliberate move away from the "big glass block".
Glass office blocks are typically expensive to maintain at a comfortable
temperature, needing substantial heating in the winter and cooling in the summer.
They tend to recycle air, in an attempt to keep the expensively conditioned
atmosphere inside, leading to high levels of air pollution in the building. Artificial
air-conditioning systems are high-maintenance, and Zimbabwe has the additional

7. problem that the original system and most spare parts have to be imported,
squandering foreign exchange reserves.
Mick Pearce, the architect, therefore took an alternative approach. Because of its
altitude, Harare has a temperate climate despite being in the tropics, and the typical
daily temperature swing is 10 to 14 °C. This makes a mechanical or passive
cooling system a viable alternative to artificial air-conditioning.
Passive cooling
Passive cooling works by storing heat in the day and venting it at night as
temperatures drop.
 Start of day: the building is cool.
 During day: machines and people generate heat, and the sun shines. Heat is
absorbed bythe fabric of the building, which has a high heat capacity, so
that the temperature inside increases but not greatly.
 Evening: temperatures outside drop. The warm internal air is vented through
chimneys, assisted by fans but also rising naturally because it is less dense,
and drawing in denser coolair at the bottom of the building.
 Night: this process continues, cold air flowing through cavities in the floor
slabs until the building's fabric has reached the ideal temperature to start the
next day.
Passively cooled, Eastgate uses only 10% of the energy needed by a similar
conventionally cooled building.
Biomaterials
One major application of biomimetics is the field of biomaterials, which involves
mimicking or synthesizing natural materials, and applying this to practical design.
There are many examples of materials in nature that exhibit unique useful
properties. One of the major advantages of biomaterials is that they are normally
biodegradeable. In addition, the extreme temperatures and hazardous chemicals
often used in manmade construction are usually unnecessary with natural
alternatives.

8. Spider silk
Spider silk is one of the most sought after biomaterials, gaining a reputation as the
“Holy Grail” of biomaterials. This material, produced byspecial glands in a
spider’s body, has the advantage of being both light and flexible, and pound for
pound is roughly three times stronger than steel: the tensile strength of the radial
threads of spider silk is is 1,154 Mpa while steel is 400 Mpa. The web is composed
of two types of silk, the major ampullate silk, which forms the dragline and web
frame, and the viscid silk, which forms the glue-covered catching spiral.
For a flying insect to be caught, the spider’s web must slow its motion to a halt by
absorbing kinetic energy. The force required to stop the insect’s motion is
inversely proportional to the distance over which the motion must be stopped. The
longer the distance over which the insect is slowed down, the smaller the force
necessary to stop it, reducing the potential for damage to the web.

9. The incredible properties of spider silk are due to its unique molecular structure.
X-ray diffraction studies have shown that the silk is composedoflong amino acid
chains that form protein crystals. The majority of silks also contain beta-pleated
sheet crystals that form from tandemly repeated amino acid sequences rich in small
amino acid residues. These amino acid sequences are composed ofan 8-10 residue
poly-alanine block and a 24-35 residue glycine-rich block. The resulting beta-sheet
crystals crosslink the fibroins into a polymer network with great stiffness, strength
and toughness. This crystalline component is embedded in a rubbery component
that permits extensibility, composed ofamorphous network chains 16-20 amino
acid residues long6. It is this extensibility and tensile strength, combined with its
light weight, that enable webs to prevent damage from wind and their anchoring
points from being pulled off.
Robotics
A second application of biomimetics is the field of robotics. Animal models are
being used as the inspiration for many different types of robots. Researchers
closely study the mechanics of various animals, and then apply these observations
to robotdesign. The goal is to develop a new class of biologically-inspired robots
with greater performance in unstructured environments, able to respond to

10. changing environmental factors such as irregular terrain. Unlike traditional science
fiction views of robots that closely resemble animals in outward appearance,
today’s researchers normally study one or more parts of an animal, in order to gain
a working knowledge for a specific function. One example is to mimic the leg and
joint structure of animals for use in robotmobility. A current collaboration among
robotics and physiology researchers at Stanford, U.C. Berkeley, Harvard and Johns
Hopkins Universities involves modelling the joint and leg structure of the
cockroachfor the development of a hexapedal running robot. They studied the
ground reaction forces in cockroach locomotion, the direction of these forces
relative to the hip joints, and the different movements of the individual legs.
These researchers have used biomimicry of the cockroach, one of nature’s most
successfulspecies, to design and build sprawl-legged robots that can move very
quickly (up to five body-lengths per second). In addition, these robots are very
good at manoeuvring in changing terrain, and can continue forward motion when
encountering hip-height obstacles or uphill and downhill slopes of up to 24
degrees. These types of small, fast robots could potentially be used for military
reconnaissance, bomb defusion and de-mining expeditions.

11. The cockroach leg is a prime candidate for biomimicry
Biomimetic robots are even being considered by NASA’s Institute for Advanced
Concepts for use in exploring the planet Mars. While these ideas are only in the
brainstorming phase, many researchers believe that only robots designed based on
insect models would be able to generate enough lift in Mars’ low-density
atmosphere to take off, hover and land to explore the Red Planet. However, one
must bear in mind that the fluid dynamics of small insects are very different from
that of large robots. Since tiny organisms interact with their fluid environment at
different Reynold’s numbers (a value indicating the viscosity of the fluid relative
to the size of the organism), the air through which they fly is relatively more
viscous than it would be for a larger organism, like swimming through molasses as
opposedto water. As a result, one cannot be certain that a large scale model of
insect flight would be able to interact with the air in the same way as a real insect
to enable flight (this problem would also be worsened by the thin atmosphere on
Mars).
Notable Bio mimicked Innovations from
understandingnature
Velcro
Gecko tape
Lotus effect self cleaning surfaces
Drag reduction by shark skin
Platelet technology for pipe repair
Smart fabric

12. Conclusion
Biomimetics or biomimicry is a useful toolin the design process. In its current
incarnation it allows present and future designers a modern approachto the ancient
practice of imitating nature.
References
L.H.Shu, T.A.Lenau, H.N.Hansen, L.Alting: Biomimetics applied to centeringin micro-assembly, CIRP-
annals 2003, vol 52/1/2003, p.101-104.
Torben Lenau, Michael Barfoed and Li Shu: Challenges in biomimetic design and innovation, Poster at
the conference 'Bioinspired Nanotechnologies for Smarter Products', 20th - 21st March 2007 at the
Society of Chemical Industry, London, organised by The Institute of Nanotechnology.
Torben Lenau and Michael Barfoed: Material Innovation - inspired by nature, Danish Metallurgical Society
- Annual Winter Meeting, Middelfart 10-12 January 2007, 10 pages.
Torben Lenau and Michael Barfoed: Teknisk udvikling med inspiration i naturen, Teknisk Nyt Special, Nr.
5a, Vol. 14, April 2007, p.25-26.
Torben Lenau and Michael Barfoed: Colours and metallic sheen in beetle shells- a biomimetic search for
material structuring principles causing light interference, Journal of Advanced Engineering Materials,
vol.10, no. 4, 2008, 299-314, DOI: 10.1002/adem.200700346.
Torben Lenau, Hyunmin Cheong and Li Shu: Sensing in nature - using biomimetics for design of sensors,
Sensor Review, Vol 28-4, 2008, p.311-316.
Bionik - med naturen som forbillede (Biomimetics - with nature as a role model), Danmarks Radio p1
Videnskabens Verden 4. oktober 2008 16-17, can be heard or pod-casted from
http://dr.dk/P1/Videnskabensverden/Udsendelser/2008/10/07101057.htm (in Danish)
Torben Lenau: Biomimetics – new and improved solutions inspired by nature, Invited viewpoint article,
Sensor Review, Vol.29-2, 2009, p.96.
Lenau, T. (2009) Biomimetics as a design methodology – possibilities and challenges, International
Conference on Engineering Design, ICED'09 24 - 27 august 2009, Stanford University, Stanford, CA,
USA.
Torben Lenau: Approaches to mimic the metallic sheen in beetles, SPIE Optics & Photonics - The
Biomimetics and Bioinspiration conference, 2-6 August 2009, San Diego, USA.

13. Torben Lenau: Materialevalg med inspiration i naturen, Præsentation på Materialedagen 2010, Dansk
Selskab for Materialeprøvning og -Forskning (DSM), DTU 22 april 2010.
T. Lenau, A. Dentel, Þ. Ingvarsdóttir and T. Guðlaugsson: Engineering Design of an Adaptive Leg
Prosthesis Using Biological Principles, International Design Conference - Design 2010 Dubrovnik -
Croatia, May 17 - 20, 2010
Lenau, T.(2010) Inspiration i naturen, Inviteret artikel til til 'Akademisk kvarter' i temanummer om
materialer i INFORM 0310, udgivet af Danske Designere, sommer 2010, s.30.
Lenau, T. A.; Cheong, H.; Shu, L. (2010) Sensing in nature: using biomimetics for design of sensors,
Measurement and Control 43.2:58-61 (Awarded best paper of the year)
Lenau, T.: Naturen som den bedste materialeekspert, Dansk Design Center 16. nov 2010
Lenau, T.and Mejborn, C.O. (2011) Solving Global Problems Using Collaborative Design Processes,
International Conference for Engineering Design, ICED11 15 - 18 August 2011, Technical University of
Denmark
Lenau, T., Helten, K., Hepperle, C., Schenkl, S. and Lindemann, U. (2011) Reducing Cinsequences of
Car Collision Using Inspiration from Nature, IASDR2011 4th World Conference on Design Research, Delft
The Netherlands, 31 October-4 November 2011.
Lenau, T. (2012) Nature inspired structural colour applications, In: Biomimetic in Photonics, ed. Olaf
Karthaus, CRC Press p. 72-96 (Series in Optics and optoelectronics).
Lenau T.& Hesselberg, T. (2013) Self-organising and self-healing within biomimetics, in: Engineered
biomimicry, ed. by Akhlesh Lakhtakia and Raúl-José Martín-Palma, Elsevier (p.333-358).
Keshwani S., Lenau T., Ahmed-Kristensen, S. and Chakrabarti, A.: Benchmarking bio-inspired designs
with brainstorming in terms of Novelty of design outcomes, ICED13 conference, Seoul Korea August
2013 (Reviewers Choise Award).