Integrated design project (Biomimicry)
Biomimicry-based product design project done as a part of the Foundation year program at (the National Institute of Fashion Technology, Bangalore)
What was it about?
The Integrated Design Project was a culmination of different design disciplines that we learned as part of the curriculum. The main aim of this project was to solve any problem by creating a product/service purely based on Biomimetics. As I mentioned earlier in my previous article, the Nature Inspired Design Thinking workshop made it a lot easier for me to pinpoint problems and determine what kind of direction to take.
As usual, this was another group project where we were collectively required to brainstorm issues and pick one that resonated with us the most. But, each member of the group had to split the problem statement and come up with ideas/prototypes.
The problem we wanted to tackle
The most bothersome issue was in fact in our college, regarding clean drinking water. From what we observed, some water filters didn’t appear to be cleaned regularly. A hand full of our friends themselves complained of dirty particles that would enter into their water bottles during a refill. So, we conducted a survey that was sent across to students as to what their alternative approach would be, if not dependent on the filters and it was pretty obvious that if they bought single-use plastic water bottles to compensate, then how many plastic bottles would they buy in a day? The figures altered based on person to person but approximately 3–4 (300ml-500ml) bottles were consumed per day. Hence, they wouldn’t trust the filters even if they were to be cleaned often. Even if less than a fourth out of 400 people in a year batch who live in hostels depended on those plastic water bottles, it would still be unsustainable and they pretty much didn’t have any choice. So there were two sets of problems to be addressed — one was the filter not being cleaned regularly and hence students buying plastic water bottles. Secondly, there were misconceptions and trust issues that prevented them from being dependable on filters despite regular cleansing. The awareness angle of the problem concerning students’ trust issues & behavior was handled by other group members.
How did I go about it?
Since the second phase of the deliverables was on an individual basis, I wanted to create a temporary collapsible biodegradable and eco-friendly product that would serve as a natural water container until the filters were 100% safe to use.
Considering the countless number of biomes on this planet, the infinite number of options to take inspiration from was quite bewildering. Based on the Biomimicry Taxonomy(Biomimicry Taxonomy — Resource — AskNature), I made elemental priorities that would help me create an efficient product. The three options that were finalized were purely inspired by structural aspects —, tension, compression, size, shape, mass, volume & material characteristics. I chose to take inspiration from the attributes of caterpillars, coconuts & maize.
Understanding the properties of biomes— form, function & material composition
Since it is very crucial to understand the subject before concluding, I wanted to study the fundamental characteristics of each biome that I chose.
Maize/corn plant: Corn’s vegetative leaves that wrap the kernels in an almond form are thick and strong to provide support. Silky—long strands that grow within the plant are available in both spun and filament forms. This fiber is used in yarns to provide comfort, softness, and drape in textiles. Studies have shown that they have outstanding moisture management properties and they even exceed resistance against UV light thus, retaining strong color compared to other synthetics.
Coconut: In a coconut, 40 % of the husks contain 30 % fiber. The chemical composition of coconut husks consists of cellulose, lignin, pyroligneous acid, gas, charcoal, tar, tannin, and potassium. Coconut dust has high lignin and cellulose content. The materials in the shell of coconut dust/fibers are bacteria and fungi-resistant. Individual coir fibers from husks are narrow, hollow, and rough with thick walls made of cellulose.
Caterpillar: Caterpillars have cylindrical bodies consisting of multiple segments since they have soft bodies. They move the way they do in a push and pull motion as a consequence of something known as ‘peristaltic wave motion’. It is a kind of wave motion that occurs within tubular structures that force the movement of an object or medium. There is an interaction between their body and the surface when they move across.
The end product — theoretical proposal
The three proposals that I came up with through a brainstorming exercise were restricted to holding around 500ml of water since 1 liter would be bulky. I didn’t want to stick to the conventionality of the term ‘bottle’ hence, I preferred calling them just water containers. These containers would be a pay & use service made available to students. The entire ideation process excludes material availability, manufacturing, and cost-effectiveness. Touchpoints of discarded ideas (fig.2 and fig. 3) shall only be mentioned as the material/form research wasn’t dug any further.
- Multiple semicircular coconut shell layers (fig.2) without husk fibers can act as stackable material to support. A foldable handle on the side if needed, would provide a good hand grip and a biodegradable polymer lid would be used to cover the top. The realized issues with this design were — even though the foldable handle was an optional choice for the user, it was unnecessary since it wouldn’t be able to hold 500ml of water. Layers of coconut shells would make the container heavy despite a hollow inner wall.
- Corn leaves with fiber could be used as a flexible pouch to drink water from. It can also be easily compressed sideways when empty. The problem anticipated with this model was that there would be possible chances of water leakage from the mouth of the container.
3. The final concept I wanted to develop was from the caterpillar’s shape (fig.1) and form since the segmented structure of the caterpillar is what gave me the idea to use the same element to create a compressed water bottle. I wanted it to be compressible since a lot of times carrying an empty water bottle is of no use and it can be a space savior. Though there are models like this that do exist, they aren’t biodegradable since the closest material that can be flattened in that manner is plastic. Hence it was quite challenging to figure out what material to use as it had to be biodegradable and could last for a couple of weeks.
Innovation Inspired by Nature — AskNature is a brilliant platform to learn, understand, and research the biomimicry universe. For someone who lacks (natural) material understanding, it is of tremendous help. So using Banana fiber is what came to my mind first. But it turns out that a banana leaf when pushed sideways twists rather than bends. This is because the stalk or the leaf stem is stiff and it must be rigid enough to hold up huge leaves. I was trying to find the closest material that would comply with my thought process. Chemical modification might be a possibility to force the fiber to bend but, that would go against nature’s principles and fail to be biodegradable. The next natural fiber I came across was Garden cucumber fiber and the tendrils act as a spring which is perfect for compression.
Tendril coiling occurs through an asymmetric contraction. Under tension, the cucumber’s tendrils coil further and it strengthens by increasing the number of coils. But they are delicate. So I thought of combining/stitching the spring-like nature of the tendrils with the vertical twisting of the banana stalk fiber. The inner wall of the container would be sewed with a Green shield fabric.
“Furniture and textiles are vulnerable to shorter lifetimes due to staining from liquids, including oil. To protect against these stains, products are coated with a continuous layer of polymer-based chemicals, often fluorochemicals. Fluorochemicals are bio-accumulative in living beings and persistent in the environment. GreenShield® fabric finishes are oil-repellent, water-repellant, and stain-repellent without the use of harmful fluorocarbons. It is made of amorphous silica nanoparticles (similar to those found in toothpaste and cosmetic creams) that permanently adhere to the fabric as a mesh network and prevent droplets from penetrating. Although this is slightly different from how lotus leaves repel water, the overall concept of preventing water droplets from forming (the ‘lotus effect’) is similar.” — Stain-Resistant Fabric Finish Inspired by Lotus Leaves — Innovation — AskNature
The lid of the water holder (not illustrated in the image) would be made of bioplastic. Bioplastics are produced from renewable biomass sources like vegetable fats and oils, corn starch, straw, woodchips, sawdust, recycled food waste, etc.
(Note: Material analysis was purely applied based on assumptions that were inferred through apprehension).
A sum up
This was a very unique project. I learned a lot about natural materials and alternatives being inspired by nature to replace synthetic fibers. There is still a lot to be discovered and experimented with, to create an eco-friendly world by being inspired by natural universal patterns. Every biome has evolved in a particular manner to serve its purpose and only by cohesively using gathered diverse data of qualities that each one of them projects, can we be able to holistically use those factors to develop products/services that will sustain the environment.
If you enjoyed reading my write-up and found it interesting, then hit a thumbs up! Feel free to give feedback or comment. You can reach out to me via mail ( shreyarawi@gmail.com)
