Abstract
Biologically inspired design uses biological systems as analogues for addressing design problems. We have conducted in situ observational studies of biologically inspired engineering design in practice. Based on these studies, we present a meta-analysis of biologically inspired design as extreme case-based reasoning. Case-based reasoning in biologically inspired design is extreme in that source domains of biological cases are unknown at the start of the process, the process of case retrieval has an intricate interplay with the process of problem decomposition, and case adaptation often entails run-time composition of partial solutions abstracted from multiple cases. Our meta-analysis of biologically inspired design suggests new challenges for research on reasoning from experiences.
Biologically Inspired Design: Human Reasoning Using Nature’s Experiences
