Greater than the sum of its parts? The role of mechanical sensitivity and integration in the evolution of power-amplified systems

大于各个部分的总和？

• 批准号: 1755336
• 负责人: Philip Anderson
• 金额: $ 61.32万
• 依托单位: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2018-09-15 至 2022-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1755336&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Greater; than; sum; its; parts

Trap-jaw ants are renowned for their extreme ability to amplify power with their mouthparts, which can generate forces hundreds of times greater than their body weight and reach speeds over 60 meters per second (over 130 miles per hour). Moreover, they do this using very simple, fracture resistant materials. The research will combine high-speed videography, biomechanics, and mathematics to characterize and model power-amplification in a diverse group of trap-jaw ants. The findings will provide insight into the mechanisms animals use to achieve extremely high speeds and forces with their limbs and to determine how variation in these high-performance biological systems generates diverse animal forms. The research also has the potential to inform biologically-inspired applications for robotics and machinery. The project will provide interdisciplinary research training opportunities to undergraduate and graduate students, including those from groups traditionally underrepresented in STEM fields. The researchers will also run robotics summer camps for children, exposing students to the many ways insects can be used to provide inspiration for innovations in technology and engineering.The objective of this research is to examine the mechanical sensitivity and integration of power-amplified systems using a combination of experimental data and computer-based biomechanical models. The results of these mechanical analyses will be incorporated into phylogenetic comparative analyses to test whether patterns of mechanical sensitivity influence morphological and ecological diversification. Specifically, the research will take advantage of repeated transitions to power amplification in trap-jaw ants to explore how performance metrics (such as speed, force and energy) respond to shifts in morphology. The power-amplified trap-jaw system is composed of multiple components (i.e. muscle, latch, spring) all of which may be important to several aspects of performance (i.e. speed, force). The specific aims of the project are to 1) evaluate how various performance variables of the trap-jaw system (speed, force, damage resistance) vary with morphological changes in components of the system, 2) test multiple hypotheses for the source of the power-amplifying mechanism in trap-jaw ants, and 3) determine how patterns of biomechanical integration influence evolutionary patterns within and among trap-jaw clades. The interdisciplinary research approach offers a mechanistic framework for evaluating the integration and evolution of biomechanical systems, and how ecological function can influence morphological diversification. The research findings have the potential to provide translational applications for the bio-inspired design of high-performance robotic systems.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

陷阱颚蚁以其用口器放大力量的极端能力而闻名，它可以产生比体重大数百倍的力量，速度超过每秒60米（超过每小时130英里）。此外，他们使用非常简单的抗断裂材料来做到这一点。这项研究将结合联合收割机高速摄像，生物力学和数学来描述和模拟不同种类的陷阱颚蚁的功率放大。这些发现将深入了解动物用于实现极高速度和四肢力量的机制，并确定这些高性能生物系统的变化如何产生不同的动物形式。这项研究也有可能为机器人和机械的生物启发应用提供信息。该项目将为本科生和研究生提供跨学科研究培训机会，包括那些传统上在STEM领域代表性不足的群体。研究人员还将为儿童举办机器人夏令营，让学生们了解昆虫的多种用途，为技术和工程创新提供灵感。这项研究的目的是结合实验数据和基于计算机的生物力学模型，研究功率放大系统的机械灵敏度和集成度。这些机械分析的结果将纳入系统发育比较分析，以测试是否模式的机械敏感性影响形态和生态多样性。具体来说，该研究将利用陷阱颚蚁中重复转换到功率放大的优势，探索性能指标（如速度，力量和能量）如何响应形态的变化。功率放大的夹爪系统由多个部件（即肌肉、闩锁、弹簧）组成，所有这些部件对性能的几个方面（即速度、力）都很重要。该项目的具体目标是：1）评估陷阱颚系统的各种性能变量（速度，力，抗损伤性）如何随系统组成部分的形态变化而变化，2）测试陷阱颚蚂蚁中功率放大机制来源的多种假设，以及3）确定生物力学整合模式如何影响陷阱颚分支内部和之间的进化模式。跨学科的研究方法提供了一个机制框架，用于评估生物力学系统的整合和进化，以及生态功能如何影响形态多样化。该研究成果有可能为高性能机器人系统的生物启发设计提供转化应用。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

项目成果

Intra‐ and interspecific variation in trophic ecology of ‘predatory’ ants in the subfamily Ponerinae

• DOI: 10.1111/een.12817
• 发表时间: 2020-06
• 期刊: Ecological Entomology
• 影响因子: 2.2
• 作者: P. E. Hanisch;K. Drager;Wendy H. Yang;P. Tubaro;A. Suarez

Best Practices of Bioinspired Design: Key Themes and Challenges

仿生设计的最佳实践：关键主题和挑战

• DOI: 10.1093/icb/icac143
• 发表时间: 2022
• 期刊: Integrative And Comparative Biology
• 影响因子: 2.6
• 作者: Wissa, Aimy;Alleyne, Marianne;Barley, William C.;Suarez, Andrew V.
• 通讯作者: Suarez, Andrew V.

Muscle Fatigue in the Latch-Mediated Spring Actuated Mandibles of Trap-Jaw Ants

陷阱颌蚂蚁闩锁介导的弹簧驱动下颌的肌肉疲劳

• DOI: 10.1093/icb/icac091
• 发表时间: 2022
• 期刊: Integrative and Comparative Biology
• 影响因子: 2.6
• 作者: Larabee, Fredrick J.;Gibson, Josh C.;Rivera, Michael D.;Anderson, Philip S. L.;Suarez, Andrew V.
• 通讯作者: Suarez, Andrew V.

Beyond Description: The Many Facets of Dental Biomechanics

• DOI: 10.1093/icb/icaa103
• 发表时间: 2020-09-01
• 期刊: INTEGRATIVE AND COMPARATIVE BIOLOGY
• 影响因子: 2.6
• 作者: Crofts, S. B.;Smith, S. M.;Anderson, P. S. L.
• 通讯作者: Anderson, P. S. L.

Snap-jaw morphology is specialized for high-speed power amplification in the Dracula ant, Mystrium camillae

• DOI: 10.1098/rsos.181447
• 发表时间: 2018-12-01
• 期刊: ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE
• 影响因子: 3.5
• 作者: Larabee, Fredrick J.;Smith, Adrian A.;Suarez, Andrew, V
• 通讯作者: Suarez, Andrew, V