Half a billion years of streamlining

[trebuchet03]

Originally Posted by LostCause

I don't see nature as providing any aerodynamic benefit beyond inspiration. It took mankind thousands of years to master flight primarily because he tried to emulate nature. Look at DaVinci's flying contraption:

Da Vinci Flying Machine


- LostCause

Ornithopter



I have no doubt, that if Da Vinci had the proper materials available - he'd have been successful

Or the strandbeest - that's a pretty cool wind powered kinetic sculpture (maybe a bit of a stretch).

[LostCause]

Originally Posted by trebuchet03

Ornithopter

I have no doubt, that if Da Vinci had the proper materials available - he'd have been successful

Ornithopters are pretty amazing, but the end of the following video sums up my feelings...

UTIAS Ornithopter

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-qS7oN-3tA

I'll give it to them that they were flying.

- LostCause

[LostCause]

Aerohead, I don't know if you use images during your presentations, but this is a famous painting I remember coming across that represents nature in design. Matthew Baker was an English shipwright during the turn of the 17th century that attributed the quality and speed of his ships to his keen observation of fish.

Matthew Baker Fish Morphology


- LostCause

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by LostCause

Aerohead, I don't know if you use images during your presentations, but this is a famous painting I remember coming across that represents nature in design. Matthew Baker was an English shipwright during the turn of the 17th century that attributed the quality and speed of his ships to his keen observation of fish.

Matthew Baker Fish Morphology


- LostCause

LostCause,I used to post images over at maxmpg.I use the computer at a local copy center and the fella who owns the business has helped me do all the hocus-pocus.His computers are slow by today's standards and it takes a lot of time for him to isolate individual images from my camera,or scan and Jpeg everything to email it.I haven't asked him to do it in a long time 'cause it seems to be such an imposition.and he's usually quite busy.I need to do it as its such a great way to communicate.I haven't seen your image of Baker's work before.Its great! I get a lot of catalogues for historical and military stuff,and they recently offered a model of Noah's Ark,which appeared remarkably streamlined.Your stills,tables, and video are the way to go.I hope to get some images transferred ( I collect Stuff all the time),however,with work taking me out of town for many weeks lately,just looking in at ecomodder has been a real luxury.Thanks for all your post,Phil.

[Mavrik]

I seem to remember the Navy using a paint on the hulls that mimics the texture of shark skin giving a substantial gain in efficiency.

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by Mavrik

I seem to remember the Navy using a paint on the hulls that mimics the texture of shark skin giving a substantial gain in efficiency.

I've heard rumors about this.So far I haven't snagged anything on it.Doesn't mean it isn't out there.There is a fella that did Dolphin research for the US Navy that came out "Laminflo",a coating applied to torpedoes,which lowered skin friction remarkably.

[MazdaMatt]

I believe that olympic swimmers are using full-body suits with a poly shark-skin for better hydrodynamics.

[aerohead]

I've seen the suits on GOOGLE.Pretty fun stuff! Does the Olympic Committee allows one contestant to compete with such technology,without requiring all to wear such a suit?

[wyatt]

Sorry to dig up an old post, but since I found one that related directly to the subject I thought I would post here.
I found an article on biomimicry, specifically biomimicking sharks. It looks like these people also have a book that will be coming out about the top 100 ways they have found to mimick nature. They have found better ways for many things, from heating and cooling homes to solar power to how we clean our boats (this is where sharks come in). I don't want to say too much, just that you should check out the article and I hope you enjoy.

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by wyatt

Sorry to dig up an old post, but since I found one that related directly to the subject I thought I would post here.
I found an article on biomimicry, specifically biomimicking sharks. It looks like these people also have a book that will be coming out about the top 100 ways they have found to mimick nature. They have found better ways for many things, from heating and cooling homes to solar power to how we clean our boats (this is where sharks come in). I don't want to say too much, just that you should check out the article and I hope you enjoy.

wyatt,it's a tasty article,thanks much!