Metrics for Bio-Inspiration Based on Taxonomies

Abstract

Using bio-inspiration allows engineers to use the knowledge implicitly built up by natural evolution. Current tools for providing engineers with bio-inspiration yield many biological working principles. Starting from the Linnaean taxonomy, which can be seen as a design revision history, this work proposes metrics for a working principle based on the observations of that working principle in different organisms. A first metric measures the reinforcement of a working principle via the number of observations (publications/submissions to a database) made by biologists. Furthermore, biological strategies that evolve independently and use the same working principle might be more resilient and globally applicable, prompting the proposal of a metric measuring the spread in the taxonomy. Finally, bio-novelty measures the biological novelty, inversely related to the biological diversity employing the working principle. To illustrate the use of the metrics, they are applied to the working principles identified in the ‘temporary attachment’ category of AskNature.

Free-text inspiration search for systematic bio-inspiration support of engineering design

“…Furthermore, this clustering method does not group organisms that have arrived at the same working principle by parallel evolution, nor the working principles that are broadly adopted in the taxonomy (Willocxand Duflou, 2021). Organisms that employ multiple working principles are also grouped together, as shown in the discussion and in Willocx et al (2020).…”