Collaborative Research: A Mathematical Design Framework for the Synthesis of Biologically-Inspired Systems

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The research objective is to explore a novel methodology for the design of biologically-inspired compliant systems exhibiting motion in three dimensions. The impetus for this research draws largely from the elegant simplicity with which designs in nature exhibit complex three-dimensional motion through continuous deformation. The research will result in a systematic method to create conceptual designs of compliant mechanisms by combining elemental building blocks which are derived from flexible biological systems. A six-dimensional hyper-geometry will be used to capture the essential motion properties for the characterization of a building block library. This mathematical framework will enable identification of the members of the building block library from nature, quantitative comparison between motion requirements and the building block characteristics, and systematic decomposition of the design synthesis task. Various biological mechanisms and engineered systems will be explored to deduce potential building blocks. Additionally, the six-dimensional hyper-geometry will be used to facilitate the intelligent decomposition of a larger design synthesis task into more tractable sub-tasks which may be addressed by elements of the building block library. If successful, the results of this research will enable the practical realization of compliant systems in three dimensions. This has potential to greatly broaden the scope of applications where the benefits of compliance may be exploited. Furthermore, the potential benefits of the research to the broader engineering community are grounded in an intuitive approach which builds designer insight. The results of this research will be accessible to the broader engineering community in the form of software-based design tools to aid in visualization and automation of tasks, web-based learning modules, and a "wiki"-like encyclopedia to aid in compliant mechanism design.