Publication
Design problem solving with biological analogies: A verbal protocol study
Abstract
Biomimetic design applies biological analogies to solve design problems and has been known to produce innovative solutions. However, when designers are asked to perform biomimetic design, they often have difficulty recognizing analogies between design problems and biological phenomena. Therefore, this research aims to investigate designer behaviors that either hinder or promote the use of analogies in biomimetic design. A verbal protocol study was conducted on 30 engineering students working in small teams while participating in biomimetic design sessions. A coding scheme was developed to analyze cognitive processes involved in biomimetic design. We observed that teams were less likely to apply overall biological analogies if they tended to recall existing solutions that could be easily associated with specific superficial or functional characteristics of biological phenomena. We also found that the tendency to evaluate ideas, which reflects critical thinking, correlates with the likelihood of identifying overall biological analogies. Insights from this paper may contribute toward developing generalized methods to facilitate biomimetic design.LINK
Related Resources
See what’s new.
2009
The Effect of Landmarks and Bone Motion on Posture-Related Changes in Carpal Tunnel VolumeBackground: Deviated wrist postures have been linked to carpal tunnel…
2016
Automated transformation of design text ROM diagram into SysML modelsThis paper proposes an approach to generating System Modeling Language…
2016
Motion Amplifiers: Sketching Dynamic Illustrations Using the Principles of 2D AnimationWe present a sketching tool for crafting animated illustrations that…
2020
A low order, torsion deformable spatial beam element based on the absolute nodal coordinate formulation and Bishop frame.Heretofore, the Serret–Frenet frame has been the ubiquitous choice…
Get in touch
Something pique your interest? Get in touch if you’d like to learn more about Autodesk Research, our projects, people, and potential collaboration opportunities.
Contact us