A Shared Framework of Reference, a First Step Toward Engineers’ and Biologists’ Synergic Reasoning in Biomimetic Design Teams

Abstract

Biomimetic practice requires a diverse set of knowledge from both biology and engineering. Several researchers have been supporting the integration of biologists within biomimetic design teams in order to meet those biological requirements and improve the effectiveness of biomimetic processes. However, interdisciplinarity practices create well-known communication challenges. Based on functional representations (like SAPPhIRE or function behavior structure (FBS)), several approaches to model biological information have been investigated in the literature. Nonetheless, actual communication processes within interdisciplinary biomimetic design teams are yet to be studied. Following this research axis, this publication focuses on communication noises and wonders if a shared framework of reference can be defined to improve communication between biologists and engineers? Through the comparison of processes and graphic representations between biology and engineering design, a set of guidelines is defined to structure a shared framework of reference. Within this framework, a new tool referred to as LINKAGE is then proposed to assist interdisciplinary communication during the biomimetic process.