the mode of communication of the dolphins

Carpet on the bottom of the Indian Ocean, sensors monitor the arrival of the next submarine earthquake. Objective: give the alert as soon as possible in the case of tsunami. To send their data from 6,000 metres deep, these sensors use sound waves to very high frequency, i.e. the mode of communication of the dolphins. The approach of the German company Evologics, who has developed this revolutionary system called "Sweep Spread Carrier", there is nothing unique. In any case in Germany where Biomimetics is booming.

This science, which is to be guided by the nature to create innovative products, motivates researchers and is encouraged by the public authorities. In Berlin last month, German research gotha met to make the point and convince the industry of the validity of the approach. "It really has the impression of being at a turning point." Science is young. It took a decade to develop products. "It is, they arrive," enthuses Thomas Speck, Director of the Botanical Garden of the University of Fribourg.

The example of Velcro

Leonardo da Vinci one who studied the flight is one Otto Lilienthal to be the first flying machine based on the study Since then, scientists have become interested in the "Bionik", or "biomimetic", as they say in France (read here), and some products have remained famous. It is the Velcro, which incorporates the principle of a plant, burdock.

This science has yet much disappointed. "In the 1960s and 1970s, many promises have been made and nothing came out," admits Thomas Speck. The mistake was to imitate nature. An approach which was still leap Ingo Rechenberg, one of the popes of the discipline, in a recent article: "even today, one of the things that bother them me most, it is the pseudo-biomimétique." I would be surprised that one day, someone takes a cucumber as a model for railway cars. Simply copy, is to forget the genuine interest of Biomimetics. A biomimetic solution must demonstrate that evolution has provided a more qualitative, whether it is friction, weight or energy, and that the engineer worked to adapt and improve this feature.

In Germany, this is the creation of the network Biokon, encouraged and funded by the German Government (read below), which allowed research. The German Pavilion of Expo, held last year in Aichi in the Japan, was entirely devoted. It saw how EADS could draw on dragonflies to imagine light and manoeuvrable gear. Further, we understand how Siemens had used the nature, and particularly bats, for his research in Ultrasound Imaging. Appendices located at the wings of the Airbus, and inspired by birds, reduce turbulence and thus consumption.

Shark skin

Because, after millions of years of evolution, organisms have found solutions to adapt to their environment. Solutions often saving in energy and materials, that rhyme this discipline with ecology and sustainable development. At the time, there are multiple applications. In the area of surfaces, for example, the skin of the shark gave rise to a host of innovations, whether it is to protect the hulls of ships of fouling or design very hydrodynamic coatings. Similarly, considering the spiders or the gecko because of their capacity to adhere to any type of surface.

Biokon network has identified seven areas where to intervene: architecture and design, materials, surfaces and interfaces, fluid dynamics, robotics, sensors and communications, and finally optimisation. In the Land Baden-Württemberg, which was a strategic axis of technical materials Thomas Speck is working on some amazing mechanical properties fibrous plants. The objective is to adopt some principles for manufacture of industrial products (cables or parts) in both lightweight, highly resistant and cheap. His laboratory under the European programme Interreg has also developed "autorégénératives" membranes for making ultralight and highly resistant pneumatic systems. These research were already the subject of a patent, and the concept, called "Tensairity", gave birth to products with the Prospective Concept company.

Step miracle

Because the strength of Biokon network connect universities with technical centres and industry. Thus, the work of Thomas Speck in the field of fibers will be used at the Institute of technical textiles of ITV Denkendorf. The latter has just announced future textiles implementing the "self-cleaning" capabilities of the lotus leaf. This "lotus effect" is to date the most beautiful story of the biomimetic, since it has already been applied to paints sold in commerce and is now betting on future applications in the agri-food or metallurgy.

In the view of some, as Tobias Tacke, consultant in rapid and participating manufacturing systems at the Congress of Berlin, progress is slow: "It is a small disappointment." It is quite academic and there is ultimately little present industry. We see many very good ideas, but still enough little product. Watch this clip, which incorporates the principle of the fin of fish. It's great, but the company has no product. "Same Werner Haase, aeronautics specialist and project manager at EADS Defence & Security, acknowledges the difficulties:"In the defence, for example with combat aircraft, we have enormous constraints and the optimum is hardly attainable."

A comment which does not disorder researchers. "It is true, the industry should not expect miracles. It will be long and will require much effort. "Look at the"lotus effect", it took twenty years to achieve results," stresses Christian Hamm Bremerhaven University. He studied the diatoms, of tiny shells to complex structures which it is based to design new ultra-light parts.

For many others, the future is already here, and the biomimetic approach is "an absolute necessity, because it requires a dialogue between specialists", insists Werner Michels, senior manager at the Degussa chemist. Today, in the industry, people are extremely sharp in their specialty and untutored as soon as they emerge. Result, they do trust person while innovations of the future will necessarily require different expertise. "Interdisciplinary nature, the biomimetic requires dialogue. Still a good lesson from nature..