How to Catch a Robot Rat: When Biology Inspires Innovation

by Agnès Guillot, Jean-Arcady Meyer, Susan Emanuel (Translator)

How biology has inspired technology -- from a watch with an alarm modeled on a cricket's noisemaking to a robot that can dance. Humans have modeled their technology on nature for centuries. The inventor of paper was inspired by a wasp's nest; Brunelleschi demonstrated the principles of his famous dome with an egg; a Swiss company produced a wristwatch with an alarm modeled on the sound-producing capabilities of a cricket. Today, in the era of the "new bionics," engineers aim to reproduce the speed and maneuverability of the red tuna in a submarine; cochlear implants send sound signals to the auditory nerve of a hearing-impaired person; and robots replicate a baby's cognitive development. How to Catch a Robot Rat examines past, present, and future attempts to apply the methods and systems found in nature to the design of objects and devices. The authors look at "natural technology transfers": how the study of nature inspired technological breakthroughs -- including the cricket-inspired watch; Velcro, which duplicates the prickly burrs of a burdock flower; and self-sharpening blades that are modeled on rats' self-sharpening teeth. They examine autonomous robots that imitate animals and their behaviors -- for example, the development of an unmanned microdrone that could fly like an albatross. And they describe hybrids of natural and artificial neuroprostheses translating the thought of quadriplegics; and a nanorobot controlled by muscle cells. Some of the ideas described have outstripped technology's capacity to realize them; nature has had more than three billion years to perfect its designs, humankind not quite so long.

Genres: Science

226 pages, Hardcover

First published September 30, 2010

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Abandoned on page 67 of 206. Some of the information is interesting. I learnt how self cleaning glass works. However the book doesn’t seem to know its purpose or who it’s aimed at. The language was very technical but some of the concepts seemed simple. The book moves from one area to another with no logic that I could see.

[Daniel R. · Rating 1 out of 5]

While full of examples of biology inspiring innovation, the book overviews the entire history and field without delving into depth on any particular topic or application. Along the way the book poses interesting ethical questions about the fusion of machines with man and animal parts with machines but shies away from exploration of the topic. The book is best suited for an academic or research setting versus being enjoyable by the layperson.

[Hom Sack · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative up-to-date information on robotic devices. The writing is slightly dense and compact but nevertheless readable. It is worth a second more focused reading.