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

本研究的目的是探索一种新的方法，用于设计生物启发的顺应性系统，表现出三维运动。这项研究的动力很大程度上来自自然界中的设计通过连续变形表现出复杂的三维运动的优雅简单性。该研究将导致一个系统的方法来创建顺应机制的概念设计，结合元素积木，这是来自灵活的生物系统。一个六维超几何将被用来捕捉基本的运动特性的表征的积木库。这个数学框架将使识别的构件库的成员从性质，运动要求和构件特性之间的定量比较，和系统的分解的设计合成任务。将探索各种生物机制和工程系统，以推断潜在的构建模块。此外，六维超几何将用于促进更大的设计合成任务的智能分解成更易处理的子任务，这些子任务可以通过构建块库的元素来解决。如果成功的话，这项研究的结果将使三维顺应系统的实际实现成为可能。这有可能极大地扩大应用范围，从而可以利用合规的好处。此外，这项研究对更广泛的工程界的潜在好处是建立在一种直观的方法，建立设计师的洞察力。这项研究的结果将以基于软件的设计工具的形式提供给更广泛的工程社区，以帮助任务的可视化和自动化，基于网络的学习模块，以及“维基”式的百科全书，以帮助兼容的机制设计。

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.