Reducing Consequences of Car Collision using Inspiration from Nature

Biomimetic design stimulates the creative idea generation within product development by searching nature’s enormous database of fine tuned solutions. The challenge for the designer is to find efficiently the solution analogies and principles that will solve the design problems. The present paper is a result of a project where researchers from two universities (Technical University of Denmark, DTU, and Technische Universität München, TUM) explored three different biomimetic design approaches namely the transfer checklist approach, the inspiration card approach and the interdisciplinary team approach. The design problem was to reduce the consequences of car collision. All three approaches led to a large number of solution analogies that were then analysed amongst others regarding the structuredness and detail level of solution.