scholarly journals Sustainable Robots for Humanitarian Demining

10.5772/5695 ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedro F. Santana ◽  
José Barata ◽  
Luís Correia
Keyword(s):  
Low Cost ◽  
Ecological Impact ◽  
Advanced Technology ◽  
Common Denominator ◽  
Biologically Inspired ◽  
Humanitarian Demining ◽  
Multi Agent ◽  
Morphological Computation ◽  
Biologically Inspired Design ◽  
Short Time

This paper proposes a roadmap for the application of advanced technology (in particular robotics) for the humanitarian demining domain. Based on this roadmap, a portable demining kit to handle urgent situations in remote locations is described. A low-cost four-wheel steering robot with a biologically inspired locomotion control is the base of the kit. On going research on a method for all-terrain piloting, under the morphological computation paradigm is also introduced, along with the behavioural architecture underlying it, the Survival Kit. A multi-agent architecture, the DSAAR architecture, is also proposed as a way of promoting short time-to-market and soft integration of different robots in a given mission. A common denominator for all developments is the quest for sustainability with respect to (re-)engineering and maintainability effort, as well as economical and ecological impact. Failing to cope with these requirements greatly reduces the applicability of a given technology to the humanitarian demining domain. Finally it is concluded that biologically inspired design fits considerably well to support a sustainable demining paradigm.

A Biologically Inspired Design Approach for Low Cost Solar Panel Systems

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olufunmilola Atilola ◽  
Joseph Goodman ◽  
Kathryn Nagel ◽  
Julie Linsey
Keyword(s):  
Design Thinking ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Solar Panel ◽  
Department Of Energy ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Solar Pv ◽  
Labor Costs ◽  
Biologically Inspired ◽  
Pv Systems ◽  
Biologically Inspired Design

Biologically inspired design is the process of using biological systems as analogues to develop innovative solutions for engineering problems. This paper describes an effective and successful implementation of problem-driven biologically inspired design in a real-world problem. In support of the Department of Energy SunShot Initiative, a national collaborative effort to make solar energy cost-competitive with other forms of electricity by the end of the decade, solar panel designs were carried out by engineering and architectural design teams. Solar Photovoltaic (PV) systems were developed using analogical design, and more specifically, bio-inspired design. Some systems were also designed using non-biological analogues. Functional decompositions were employed as the first step in the design process, as a way to identify the key functions essential to the system’s reliability and cost effectiveness. Six key functions were identified. Analysis of the final designs by the teams showed that the solar panel system designs using biologically inspired analogues were more effective in meeting the six key functions identified during functional decomposition. Employing a combination of divergent and convergent design thinking is also discussed as a way for effective biologically inspired design. The top three designs selected for prototyping were biologically inspired and exceeded the project goal of reducing the installation and labor costs of solar PV systems by 50%.

scholarly journals What Do We Learn from Good Practices of Biologically Inspired Design in Innovation?

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 650 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacques Chirazi ◽  
Kristina Wanieck ◽  
Pierre-Emmanuel Fayemi ◽  
Cordt Zollfrank ◽  
Shoshanah Jacobs
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Success Factors ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Ecological Impact ◽  
Cooperative Research ◽  
Biologically Inspired ◽  
Good Practices ◽  
Success Stories ◽  
Biologically Inspired Design ◽  
Key Steps

Biologically inspired design (BID) is an emerging field of research with increasing achievements in engineering for design and problem solving. Its economic, societal, and ecological impact is considered to be significant. However, the number of existing products and success stories is still limited when compared to the knowledge that is available from biology and BID research. This article describes success factors for BID solutions, from the design process to the commercialization process, based on case studies and market analyses of biologically inspired products. Furthermore, the paper presents aspects of an effective knowledge transfer from science to industrial application, based on interviews with industrial partners. The accessibility of the methodological approach has led to promising advances in BID in practice. The findings can be used to increase the number of success stories by providing key steps toward the implementation and commercialization of BID products, and to point out necessary fields of cooperative research.

Learning From Insects to Increase Multi-Agent System Resilience: Functional Decomposition and Transfer to Support Biologically Inspired Design

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabella V. Hernandez ◽  
Bryan C. Watson ◽  
Marc Weissburg ◽  
Bert Bras
Keyword(s):  
Agent Based Modeling ◽  
Multi Agent System ◽  
Multi Agent Systems ◽  
Biologically Inspired ◽  
Agent System ◽  
Agent Based ◽  
Agent Systems ◽  
Multi Agent ◽  
System Resilience ◽  
Biologically Inspired Design

Abstract Resilience is an emergent property of complex systems that describes the ability to detect, respond, and recover from adversity. Much of the modern world consists of multiple, interacting, and independent agents (i.e. Multi-Agent Systems). However, the process of improving Multi-Agent System resilience is not well understood. We seek to address this gap by applying Biologically Inspired Design to increase complex system resilience. Eusocial insect colonies are an ideal case study for system resilience. Although individual insects have low computing power, the colonies collectively perform complex tasks and demonstrate resilience. Therefore, analyzing key elements of eusocial insect colonies may offer insight on how to increase Multi-Agent System resilience. Before the strategies used in eusocial insects can be adapted for Multi-Agent Systems, however, the existing research must be identified and transferred from the biological sciences to the engineering field. These transfers often hinder or limit biologically inspired design. This paper translates the biological investigation of individual insects and colony network behavior into strategies that can be tested to increase Multi-Agent System resilience. These strategies are formulated to be applied to Agent-Based Modeling. Agent-Based Modeling has been applied to many Multi-Agent Systems including epidemiology, traffic management, and marketing. This provides a key step in the design-by-analogy process: Identifying and decoding analogies from their original context. The design principles proposed in this work provide a foundation for future testing and eventual implementation into Multi-Agent Systems.

Low-Cost Hardware Implementation of Human Blood Identification Device Using Feed-Forward Artificial Neural Network on FPGA

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rizki Eka Putri ◽  
Denny Darlis
Keyword(s):  
Neural Network ◽  
Artificial Neural Network ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Image Resolution ◽  
Blood Type ◽  
Feed Forward ◽  
Testing Facility ◽  
System Input ◽  
Artificial Neural ◽  
Short Time

This article was under review for ICELTICS 2018 -- In the medical world there is still service dissatisfaction caused by lack of blood type testing facility. If the number of tested blood arise, a lot of problems will occur so that electronic devices are needed to determine the blood type accurately and in short time. In this research we implemented an Artificial Neural Network on Xilinx Spartan 3S1000 Field Programable Gate Array using XSA-3S Board to identify the blood type. This research uses blood sample image as system input. VHSIC Hardware Discription Language is the language to describe the algorithm. The algorithm used is feed-forward propagation of backpropagation neural network. There are 3 layers used in design, they are input, hidden1, and output. At hidden1layer has two neurons. In this study the accuracy of detection obtained are 92%, 92%, 92%, 90% and 86% for 32x32, 48x48, 64x64, 80x80, and 96x96 pixel blood image resolution, respectively.

Robust Test Method of TSOP PEMs for Space Application

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasunobu Iwai ◽  
Koichi Shinozaki ◽  
Daiki Tanaka
Keyword(s):  
Evaluation Method ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Reliability Evaluation ◽  
Test Method ◽  
Thermal Shock Test ◽  
Space Application ◽  
Space Applications ◽  
Limit Test ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Short Time

Abstract Compared with space parts, consumer parts are highly functional, low cost, compact and lightweight. Therefore, their increased usage in space applications is expected. Prior testing and evaluation on space applicability are necessary because consumer parts do not have quality guarantees for space application [1]. However, in the conventional reliability evaluation method, the test takes a long time, and the problem is that the robustness of the target sample can’t be evaluated in a short time. In this report, we apply to the latest TSOP PEM (Thin Small Outline Package Plastic Encapsulated Microcircuit) an evaluation method that combines preconditioning and HALT (Highly Accelerated Limit Test), which is a test method that causes failures in a short time under very severe environmental conditions. We show that this method can evaluate the robustness of TSOP PEMs including solder connections in a short time. In addition, the validity of this evaluation method for TSOP PEM is shown by comparing with the evaluation results of thermal shock test and life test, which are conventional reliability evaluation methods.

scholarly journals Biologically Inspired Design and Development of a Variable Stiffness Powered Ankle-Foot Prosthesis

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Agboola-Dobson ◽  
Guowu Wei ◽  
Lei Ren
Keyword(s):  
Lower Limb ◽  
Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
Sagittal Plane ◽  
Frontal Plane ◽  
Variable Stiffness ◽  
Plane Motion ◽  
Biologically Inspired ◽  
Passive Rotation ◽  
Ground Conditions ◽  
Biologically Inspired Design

Recent advancements in powered lower limb prostheses have appeased several difficulties faced by lower limb amputees by using a series-elastic actuator (SEA) to provide powered sagittal plane flexion. Unfortunately, these devices are currently unable to provide both powered sagittal plane flexion and two degrees of freedom (2-DOF) at the ankle, removing the ankle’s capacity to invert/evert, thus severely limiting terrain adaption capabilities and user comfort. The developed 2-DOF ankle system in this paper allows both powered flexion in the sagittal plane and passive rotation in the frontal plane; an SEA emulates the biomechanics of the gastrocnemius and Achilles tendon for flexion while a novel universal-joint system provides the 2-DOF. Several studies were undertaken to thoroughly characterize the capabilities of the device. Under both level- and sloped-ground conditions, ankle torque and kinematic data were obtained by using force-plates and a motion capture system. The device was found to be fully capable of providing powered sagittal plane motion and torque very close to that of a biological ankle while simultaneously being able to adapt to sloped terrain by undergoing frontal plane motion, thus providing 2-DOF at the ankle. These findings demonstrate that the device presented in this paper poses radical improvements to powered prosthetic ankle-foot device (PAFD) design.

scholarly journals Beyond analogy: A model of bioinspiration for creative design

2016 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 159-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Camila Freitas Salgueiredo ◽  
Armand Hatchuel
Keyword(s):  
Design Process ◽  
Design Theory ◽  
Leading Edge ◽  
Knowledge Bases ◽  
Biologically Inspired ◽  
Concept Knowledge ◽  
Bioinspired Design ◽  
Aerodynamic Properties ◽  
Biologically Inspired Design ◽  
The Impact

AbstractIs biologically inspired design only an analogical transfer from biology to engineering? Actually, nature does not always bring “hands-on” solutions that can be analogically applied in classic engineering. Then, what are the different operations that are involved in the bioinspiration process and what are the conditions allowing this process to produce a bioinspired design? In this paper, we model the whole design process in which bioinspiration is only one element. To build this model, we use a general design theory, concept–knowledge theory, because it allows one to capture analogy as well as all other knowledge changes that lead to the design of a bioinspired solution. We ground this model on well-described examples of biologically inspired designs available in the scientific literature. These examples include Flectofin®, a hingeless flapping mechanism conceived for façade shading, and WhalePower technology, the introduction of bumps on the leading edge of airfoils to improve aerodynamic properties. Our modeling disentangles the analogical aspects of the biologically inspired design process, and highlights the expansions occurring in both knowledge bases, scientific (nonbiological) and biological, as well as the impact of these expansions in the generation of new concepts (concept partitioning). This model also shows that bioinspired design requires a special form of collaboration between engineers and biologists. Contrasting with the classic one-way transfer between biology and engineering that is assumed in the literature, the concept–knowledge framework shows that these collaborations must be “mutually inspirational” because both biological and engineering knowledge expansions are needed to reach a novel solution.

Biologically Inspired Design: A Macrocognitive Account

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Swaroop S. Vattam ◽  
Michael Helms ◽  
Ashok K. Goel
Keyword(s):  
Biological Sciences ◽  
Information Processing ◽  
Engineering Design ◽  
Design Patterns ◽  
Information Processing Model ◽  
Biologically Inspired ◽  
Design Problems ◽  
Engineering Design Problems ◽  
Other Information ◽  
Biologically Inspired Design

Biologically inspired engineering design is an approach to design that espouses the adaptation of functions and mechanisms in biological sciences to solve engineering design problems. We have conducted an in situ study of designers engaged in biologically inspired design. Based on this study we develop here a macrocognitive information-processing model of biologically inspired design. We also compare and contrast the model with other information-processing models of analogical design such as TRIZ, case-based design, and design patterns.

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