3D printed fins comes to mind as a practical application in surfing. Fin boxes would be a cool one to feed into the Dreamcatcher software and see what it comes up with.
Cool to see where technology is taking things, but also that it’s leaning heavily on nature as a proof of concept. Reminds me a bit of Halcyon’s approach to fin design, although his is much more organic and analog. The thought process is similar though, define the end performance you want and let biomimicry lead you to a possible solution.
the compositesworld article is really interesting. the organic shapes and lines etc of the structure. seems like a jick bottom almost falls into the category. would/could cnc/3d print make things like that in production possible? glassing is still a major PIA, though right? http://www.swaylocks.com/forums/jick-bottoms
Thanks for posting lawless.
This upcoming revolution in the design of almost everything we make and use and how we make them is inevitable I believe.
Computer driven evolutionary bio mimicry will take design in directions and to places that few of us are currently able to comprehend. The ramifications of things like chaos theory and fractal geometry are also yet to be fully realised. But computing power and new manufacturing methods like 3D printing may rapidly remedy this.
Having said that, I think there will always be a place for the handmade, custom built product made by talented craftsman.
But as all of this develops there will much to be learned by those who are interested in learning.
Is “bionic design” really needed ? …there are naturally produced raw materials available to achieve all things…they are what “bionic design” is trying to copy.
I only read a small portion from the first link. I need to read more – very interesting. It is not likely that natural bird bone could be used to make a jet frame. The experimental Airbus is applying bird bone architecture to structural frame design of large jets.
Ribbed plastic film added to Learjets, kayaks and sailboat hulls reduces drag (5-8%). It is an advantage for traveling long distances (reduced energy consumption). Lauder, his colleagues and students found that sharkskin riblets allow drag reduction in water on flexible surfaces moving at slow speeds – an advantage for long distance swimming like migrations. The “long continuous ribs” placed on the manmade plastic film create something that is similar to sharkskin riblets. Riblets are many small stuctures, collectively forming something similar to long narrow ribs. If shark skin had long continuous ribs, rather than many small riblets, their bodies would not likely flex well.
Conversely, many activities of mankind are not seen in the natural world, e.g. flying at mach five. Binary electronic data systems allow millisecond (or faster) complex calculations and processing with data transmission through fiber-optic cables at the speed of light. Not really biomimicry but human design. The human mind is capable of evolving design/structures not found in nature. IMO opinion, the combination of the human mind with computers is “artificial intelligence.”
The evolution of surfboard design and materials changed radically over several decades vs. millennia. We have designed surfboards that ride waves very effectively relative to other creatures on this planet. In some respects, surfboard design mimics nature (e.g. fins), in other respects no. Surfboard performance has changed radically in less than a century to ride waves in a uniquely “human” way. How many thousands or millions of years of natural evolution would have been required to do the same.
The primary component in this technological evolution is the human mind, producing things and activities found nowhere in nature. So far humans are the only creatures capable of space travel on this planet – rapid evolution of technology created by the augmented human mind, making designs and doing things not found in nature. But, can we adapt through self-awareness?
At some point, the posts and thoughts found in this thread travel across our planet at the speed of light. Apparently thoughts have no mass.
Nice links.
The Dreamcatcher is an extension of cellular automata modeling - a form of simulated evolution where fitness for purpose decides whether a design survives or not.
Perhaps the best known early cellular automata modeling was John Conway’s “Game of Life”. Lots of simulations on the web.
With cellular modellng you specify the requirements and set the agents to evolving to build autonomous systems that best satisfy your requirements.
An interesting early application was setting agents to design a system able to cross water. The AI design ended up with a range of snake and fish shapes.
Surfcraft requirements are somewhat contradictory (optimise speed while retaining maneuverability, for instance), so the test of fitness of design would need to indicate whether it was evolutionary preferable to make the wave or rack up turns. Inevitably the system will depend on the kind of waves that were specified. Hey, that’s the first question shapers ask…
the durability , strength and resilience of wood and plant fiber , is one of main things that bionic design is trying to copy , to create commercially viable materials…so why not just use the natural resource ? …the case for a total de-criminalization and growing of the hemp plant as a raw material resource across thousands of practical applications is extremely compelling , when commonsense is used to determine it’s many uses…http://www.collective-evolution.com/2013/02/25/henry-ford-hemp-plastic-car-stronger/
Ultimately using the natural resource in its natural state is fine up to a point. Joining and shaping it into the shapes you need however will always introduce costs and weaknesses to the structure. Your ability to evolve the design will also be limited and costly to implement.
But imagine being able to print/grow the structures you need using the cellular components of the natural resource itself to give you one seamless wholistic structure. And then have the self evolving process repeat and create something slightly different (stronger/lighter) of its own accord. And so on, and so on. Scaling fractal geometry design (which seems to be the way most of the natural world works) would also then be easily implemented too.
RDM:
“Having said that, I think there will always be a place for the handmade, custom built product made by talented craftsman.”
Absolutely agree, and with the onslaught of advanced technology it seems the respect for those skills is already growing. I see lots of craftspeople starting to build niche markets for handmade things such as knives, clothing, furniture… surfboards that the demand is driven partly by those fed up with the commodity items that at first were appealing as the prices dropped to ridiculously low (re: unsustainable) levels, then slowly realized there is a value in quality made goods. This approach is just another tool for those craftsmen.
“But as all of this develops there will much to be learned by those who are interested in learning.”
Yes, some are more interested in fighting the inevitable, others are more interested in pushing it to it’s theoretic limits as quickly as possible. Both are valid, just different approaches to life.
Kayu:
“the durability , strength and resilience of wood and plant fiber , is one of main things that bionic design is trying to copy , to create commercially viable materials…so why not just use the natural resource ?”
Yes, but moreso at a cellular level. Take a wooden surfboard for example. It’s a great material but has some serious drawbacks, let’s use weight for example. You could make a solid wood board. It would be much heavier than it’s foam counterpart but much more durable. Now say you impart some constraints on the design, let’s say weight. So you put a constraint into the AI system and tell it you want to use wood as the material, but you want the finished weight to be “x” pounds. It would give you all sorts of options based on the natural structure of materials to derive a bunch of different combinations that could produce a wood board that weighed “x” pounds. It’s not that they are trying to replace the natural resources, but optimize them for practical uses.
Use their Airbus divider panel for example (see attachment). Let’s say you made it out of wood, but wanted to optimize for strength and light weight. The software just comes up with novel ideas on how to do that efficiently. The benefits of that design over a solid wood panel are pretty obvious. A human alone could have come up with a similar concept, but this just streamlines the process and provides novel solutions.
Just some food for thought. It’s cool to see what’s out there and where things are headed and how changing our perspective a bit may in turn give us some new novel ideas to try in our own endeavors.
Very cool stuff Lawless.
I especially liked the diatom-based modeling.
For a pre-deterined wood surfboard weight; would load, stress, flex (etc.) data be added too?
You got me? I’m just reading the links like you :D, for actual engineering I would think those variables are important. For surfboards… when’s the last time you saw any data related to load, stress or flex related to a surfboard?
That’s the really interesting thing about surfboards, there are SO many variables that standard engineering principles are hard to apply holistically. Then throw the wave into the mix and the possible combinations are nearly endless and almost never repeatable.
More questions than answers for me, but super interesting none the less.
…Lawless - “Yes, but moreso at a cellular level. Take a wooden surfboard for example. It’s a great material but has some serious drawbacks, let’s use weight for example. You could make a solid wood board. It would be much heavier than it’s foam counterpart but much more durable.”…been many years since weight was a problem with wooden surfboards…how light would you like to go ? …( 9’ 6" composite balsa log built about 10 years back - weighing 15lbs)
I think my posts get misunderstood sometimes…I like (and use) many different composite materials when they become available , to satisfy my own curiosity about them and to see if they have benefit to the way I build some boards …sometimes they do…mostly they don’t . Like most things that reach the market , there’s always hype and claims …my main raw material has always been wood , and I have yet to use any other material that comes anywhere even close to the reliability or durability that wood offers …still , I have an open mind on all things …(pic - Dick Van Straalen with a classic huon pine and balsa single fin gun we did some years ago)
