Establishing Analogy Categories for Bio-Inspired Design

Abstract

Biological systems have evolved over billions of years and cope with changing conditions through the adaptation of morphology, physiology, or behavior. Learning from these adaptations can inspire engineering innovation. Several bio-inspired design tools and methods prescribe the use of analogies, but lack details for the identification and application of promising analogies. Further, inexperienced designers tend to have a more difficult time recognizing or creating analogies from biological systems. This paper reviews biomimicry literature to establish analogy categories as a tool for knowledge transfer between biology and engineering to aid bio-inspired design that addresses the common issues. Two studies were performed with the analogy categories. A study of commercialized products verifies the set of categories, while a controlled design study demonstrates the utility of the categories. The results of both studies offer valuable information and insights into the complexity of analogical reasoning and transfer, as well as what leads to biological inspiration versus imitation. The influence on bio-inspired design pedagogy is also discussed. The breadth of the analogy categories is sufficient to capture the knowledge transferred from biology to engineering for bio-inspired design. The analogy categories are a design method independent tool and are applicable for professional product design, research, and teaching purposes.