I've copied the first post here, but please visit the following site for future posts:
http://bio-inspired-mechanical-design.blogspot.com/
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Nature is a beautiful thing.
Mechanical engineering is as much philosophy as it is a science. It's a beautiful discipline because it requires an understanding of the world, and an understanding of people.I am always looking for inspiration everywhere I go, and in everything I do. I believe that Mechanical engineering requires inspiration and lifelong learning; and that one's life should be lived with passion so that everything one appreciates may become a source of knowledge and inspiration. This frame of mind is what inspired my paperweight:
In the book FUNdaMENTALS of Design [1], professor Alex Slocum states that one's "mind is a giant bio neural net, just waiting for new connections to be made!" By developing and practicing a systematic process to go about solving problems, one can develop a "rapid design reflex" to solve problems quickly and effectively "with a minimum of floundering!" He is a great advocate for deterministic design, and after taking two courses with him (Precision Machine Design, Development of Mechanical Products), I've tried to absorb his wisdom and form my own process largely inspired by his.
One's bio-neural-net gets bigger and better with more sources of knowledge and inspiration, from the broad to specific. As he says, with practice, both the process and the reflex become hard-wired into your net. I also believe that your net gets stronger under tension, and if you continue to face the tension, you can activate your net to produce something truly amazing. The best part about it, is that this tension should bring you happiness.
In reality, the most brilliant designers are those that have a bio-neural-net programmed for deterministic axiomatic thought while simultaneously achieving rapid-fire multi-techno happiness enhancement [1].Why am I bringing this up? Well this semester I am taking a course at MIT 2.S994 - Biomimetics, Biomechanics, and Bio-inspired Robots. Over the course of the class, we will learn how to design experiments, create dynamic simulations, and build a robotic device inspired by a particular animal (I haven't decided which one yet, but I have some ideas). The course is taught by Prof. Sangbae Kim, who is developing the cheetah bot at the MIT Biomimetic Robotics Lab [2]. He's a great lecturer and his passion for his work is contagious.
I'm starting a new blog to share the scientific articles from our course, which up until this point have focused on locomotion, as well as some specific creatures that inspire me. Stay tuned for more posts, but here is the first:
The mantis shrimp is one of my favorite animals.
http://www.chicagonow.com/greenamajigger/2013/04/the-peacock-mantis-shrimp-punches-hard-enough-to-break-aquarium-glass/
Related Articles
Not only because it is magnificent in appearance, but their eyes have some of the most incredible properties of any living thing.
http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/wallpaper/photography/photos/underwater-creatures/peacock-mantis-shrimp/
They also have one of the most interesting defense mechanisms:
http://www.backofthecerealbox.com/2012/06/hadouken-of-undersea-world.html
I wouldn't do justice describing it here, but you can find a nicely illustrated description here:
http://theoatmeal.com/comics/mantis_shrimp
and a funny and informative video about them here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5FEj9U-CJM
More to come - enjoy!
[1] http://web.mit.edu/2.75/fundamentals/FUNdaMENTALS.html
[2] http://biomimetics.mit.edu:8100/wordpress/
