How can we harness ideas that already exist in nature to create sustainable and
innovative design alternatives?
YOUR BRIEFBio-Mimicry.org has presented you with a challenge to re-design everyday objects using nature as inspiration. Your designs will need to show your understanding of the strengths of that animal, and add to the overall value of the product. You will need to evaluate how your developments will impact to the end-user.
To do this you will need to :
|
TASK 4a : Develop design ideas
- DESIGNS INSPIRED BY MY ANIMAL : Choose 2 of the questions that you had about your animal.
- On your DEVELOPING IDEAS page on your weebly, list the questions and the answers
- Start to BRAINSTORM ways that this research could benefit some product
FOR EXAMPLE :
One question that I had about Bees was: How can bees navigate so far away from their hives? I learned that bees navigate by using the sun as a compass. They can even see the sun on cloudy days through their polarised eyes. Through these eyes, they create 'polarised sun maps' that they share with eachother through a 'waggle dance'. I brainstorm ways that this might benefit designers. For example :
- Maybe we could create drones that water large crops by navigating using the sun as a compass
- Bees can see the sun even on cloudy days. I wonder if there's a way to enhance solar energy using what we know about bees eyes so that we can generate power on cloudy days?
TASK 4B: Research your product
Have a think about which product you might like to investigate - you might need to brainstorm. We will need to RESEARCH to learn more about this product.
- DISPLAY 3 PHOTOS of your product on your website
- WRITE an overview of the product :
- what is it designed to do?
- how well does it do it and why?
- what could be improved?
MY EXAMPLE : THE DRONE
What is it designed to do?
An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, as an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), and also referred by several other names, is an aircraft without a human pilot aboard. The flight of UAVs may be controlled with various kinds of autonomy : either by a given degree of remote control from an operator, located on the ground or in another vehicle, or fully autonomously, by onboard computers.[1]
UAVs are often preferred for missions that are too "dull, dirty or dangerous"[2] for manned aircraft. They have and are mostly found in military and special operation applications. Though, UAVs are increasingly finding uses in civil and recreational applications,[3] such as policing and surveillance, aerial filming, and drone racing.
UAVs are often preferred for missions that are too "dull, dirty or dangerous"[2] for manned aircraft. They have and are mostly found in military and special operation applications. Though, UAVs are increasingly finding uses in civil and recreational applications,[3] such as policing and surveillance, aerial filming, and drone racing.
How well does it do it and why?
TASK 5 : Develop planning drawings & present the chosen design
Once you have brainstormed products, you will be ready to develop your ideas. To do this you will need to move on to 'creating the solution' to have a look at the SKETCHUP tutorials.
- Using the photos of your product, trace a large copy in your sketchbook
- Create at least 3 different sketched solutions
- Compare and contrast the pros & cons of each solution - what's working well? what could you improve?
- Share your work with the class for reflection & feedback
- Upload all of your work to your website - you may need to photograph your work
Choose your BEST solution and create an A3 drawing of it.