Bionics
THE word “bionics” is a comparatively new one. It was first made up and used in 1958 in the Aerospace Division of the United States Air Force to describe the science of constructing machines that are similar to the sort of living structures that are found in plants and animals.
The principle of bionics is, however, by no means new. The designs of many machines, both ancient and modern, have been based on natural forms. One example is the propeller. The seeds of certain trees have wings, which are slightly twisted. When these seeds fall from the tree, their wings make them spin round, so that they can fly quite long distances if the wind is favourable. Observation of such seed suggested the idea of making machines with spiral blades of this kind. When the baldes were rotated rapidly, the machines could fly, or move through water. So the propeller and the helicopter roter were invented. Another early example of bionics was the invention of flying machines with wings like those of birds or bats.
Natural shapes are efficient because they have been developed for particular purposes over millions of years, so there are obvious advantages in copying from nature. But the important about bionics is to understand the principles behind living machinery, not to try to copy it in detail. Are aeroplane is too big to fly like a bird, by combination of two types of natural machines – the wing and the propeller – in a completely new way that had not been copied from nature.