Analysis of Pollination Process between Flowers and Honeybees to Derive Insights for the Design of Microrobots

Abstract

Pollination is a crucial ecological process with far-reaching impacts on natural and agricultural systems. Approximately 85% of flowering plants depend on animal pollinators for successful reproduction. Over 75% of global food crops rely on pollinators, making them indispensable for sustaining human populations. Wind, water, insects, birds, bats, mammals, amphibians, and mollusks accomplish the pollination process. The design features of flowers and pollinators in angiosperms make the pollination process functionally effective and efficient. In this paper, we analyze the design aspects of the honeybee-enabled flower pollination process using the axiomatic design methodology. We tabulate functional requirements (FRs) of flower and honeybee components and map them onto nature-chosen design parameters (DPs). We apply the “independence axiom” of the axiomatic design methodology to identify couplings and to evaluate if the features of a flower and a honeybee form a good design (i.e., uncoupled design) or an underperforming design (i.e., coupled design). We also apply the axiomatic design methodology’s “information axiom” to assess the pollination process’s robustness and reliability. Through this exploration, we observed that the pollination process is not only a good design but also a robust design. This approach to assessing whether nature’s processes are good or bad designs can be valuable for biomimicry studies. This approach can also inform design considerations for bio-inspired innovations such as microrobots.