Analogies of Nature

LET'S START IN THE DESERT

Consideration of naturally occuring innovation can lead to the development of new technologies. Great innovators can find analogous features in nature that help them find innovative solutions.

By looking at an extreme environment, innovators can develop technology for use in those conditions, or in the opposite extreme environment. This group exercise requires us to think about the desert. You may say that there is nothing to be learned about innovation from the hot drifting sand found in many parts of the world. But, the desert is one of the best places to start this unique experiment into online collaborative innovation.

THE WONDERS OF THE CAMEL

The camel can survive for many days without food or water, and can walk across all types of land. It has unique feet, hump(s), head and fur, among many other attributes. The camel will help us develop analogical thinking skills. In this exercise, consider what products could be inspired by the camel.

Camel Analogies

Moving through the desert efficiently is actually rather tricky. Dune buggies and the like use automobile-type tires, which are not effective on sand and other particulate-covered surfaces. If I wanted to cross the desert sands, I’d start with a vehicle that’s already designed for moving over granular crystalline surfaces: the snowmobile.

Early snowmobiles used rubber tracks, however modern snowmobiles typically have tracks made of a Kevlar composite. They are designed to be operated on snow and ice, and require no road or trail. Originally snowmobiles were typically powered by two-stroke gasoline/petrol internal combustion engines. Four-stroke engines are becoming more and more popular in snowmobiles. Noise and air pollution concerns and regulations are a driving factor in this transition.

Moving back to the original topic, adapting a snowmobile with a “makeover” based upon another desert “vehicle” (i.e., the camel), we can use the natural adaptations of the camel to convert the snowmobile into a sandmobile. For example, the camel's hump contains fat (and not water, contrary to popular belief), allowing the camel to go without food and water for 3 to 4 days. How does this translate? The most efficient engine one can find, possibly taken from a motorcycle, coupled with an extra fuel tank.

Next, camels are very strong animals with wide, padded feet. When the thick, leathery pads of a camel’s foot hit the ground, they spread wide, preventing the camel from sinking into the sand. The present treads on the snowmobile could be replaced, or coated with, a similar resilient material, which would spread under the weight of the vehicle, thus better distributing the sandmobile’s weight. Further, camels have thick leathery pads on their knees and chest, which suggests to me some sort of extra seal for the engine, etc. of the sandmobile, since sand could easily deteriorate the machine.

Additionally, camels can open and close their muscular nostrils at will, which prevents them from inhaling sand in the event of a sandstorm. For an air cooled combustion engine, this suggests special filters and adjustable flaps for the air flowing into, and through, the engine. Lastly, when the outside temperature is higher than body temperature, most mammals sweat to cool off. But not the camel: to avoid sweating, its body temperature will rise up to 11 degrees, which is the primary way that camels conserve water in the desert. In fact, camels often huddle together to stay cool because their body temperature is often less than the outside air. A re-designed radiator system, not based on evaporative cooling, could be added into the sandmobile, based on the camel’s efficiency.¹

¹Rosenberg, Morgan D. (July, 2009). "Camel Analogies"

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