Abstract—A potential technique to reduce the energy
required to actuate moving parts in a machine is to reduce their
mass. This paper presents initial research attempting to answer
this question for robotic arm application using a biologically
inspired approach. Investigation identified some potential
biological solutions for tubular structures. From analysis of the
properties of these biological models, the physical principles
were deduced and abstracted into computer-aided design
models for testing using finite element analysis. Three of the
best performing design solutions were manufactured and
physically tested. Findings showed that the biomimetic
structures reached at least the same efficiency of conventional
tubular structures regarding the ratio of maximum load and
weight.
Index Terms—Biomimetics, lightweight design, bio-inspired
structures, reduced energy consumption.
S. Burkner, J. Matthews, L. Ding are with University of South Wales.
Pontypridd, Wales, United Kingdom, CF37 1DL, United Kingdom (e-mail:
12018406@students.southwales.ac.uk, jason.matthews@southwales.ac.uk,
lding@southwales.ac.uk).
F. Dialami is with University of the West of England Coldharbour Lane,
Bristol BS16 1QY United Kingdom (e-mail: farid.dialami@ UWE.ac.uk).
[PDF]
Cite: Bukner Sven, Dialami Farid, Ding Lian, and Matthews Jason, "Bio-inspired Design to Support Reduced Energy
Consumption Via the ‘Light Weighting’ of Machine
System Elements," International Journal of Modeling and Optimization vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 82-89, 2015.
