Nature is full of magic and has given mankind infinite inspiration.

In the process of getting along with other species, people study the structure and function of organisms, and invent equipment and tools based on these principles, creating technologies suitable for human production, learning, and life, and continuously and effectively solving problems.

Humans invented radar based on bats and electronic frog eyes based on frogs, which have made great contributions to the world. Today, let’s take a look at which inventions were inspired by animals.

1. Radar

Scientists were inspired to invent radar by bats: bats are nocturnal animals with poor eyesight, but they can fly up and down in the night sky, dexterously avoid obstacles, and accurately capture prey.

After research, scientists have discovered that bats rely on a method of emitting and receiving sound waves for echolocation to accurately know the location of obstacles ahead. In many cases, this method is more effective than vision. Inspired by this, scientists developed radar that uses radio waves to detect surrounding objects, which is widely used.

2. Robot bees

Harvard University's robotic bee project debuted in 2013 and is still under development. At its core, it stems from a simple idea and is designed with influences from the insect world - it's a tiny drone. It weighs 175 milligrams, which is 14 times lighter than a coin. There is no doubt that this microrobot is quite delicate.

Robobee's 30mm wingspan makes it the smallest artificial insect-based device, and trying to achieve perfect flight would have taken more than 12 years of research to complete. It will use sub-millimeter building elements, and designers must develop components such as rotating motors, gears, nuts, and bolts without a foundation.

They also had to devise a way for them to react quickly to overcome the huge impact of turbulence on small objects, to do this they designed an artificial muscle system that can beat its wings more than 120 times per second. Initially, robots could take off, fly, and land, but now they can stick to the surface, swim underwater, and even dive into and jump out of the water.

Since the force caused by surface tension is about 10 times the weight of the robot, the scientists added a tiny flammable rocket. The ultimate goal of this invention is to enable micro-robots to operate in groups and then play a role in crop pollination, search and rescue, and surveillance tasks.

3. Navigation and positioning

Wild geese are migratory birds that migrate north and south as the seasons change.

Their north-south migration routes cover thousands of kilometers. However, over such long distances, generations of wild geese can accurately reach their previously chosen destinations. It can be seen that geese have extraordinary navigation capabilities.

Through observation and research on wild geese, scientists discovered that they have special biological sensors in their bodies that can judge and position themselves based on geographical factors such as the position of the sun, the earth's magnetic field, and gravity, so they never deviate from their migration routes. According to scientists, This resulted in the development of modern navigators, which made today's aviation and navigation industries more convenient.

Do you also know which animals humans have drawn inspiration from and created inventions from?