KPIT Cummins Blog

We might congratulate ourselves on our transport ideas - from innovations in flight, to four-wheel vehicles and super fast trains - but it’s important to recognize where the inspiration truly came from. How did human beings learn the fundamentals of effective movement, and what was the example for perfect transit design? The answer should be obvious.

Photo: Cornelia Kopp

Nature has been evolving for billions of years. Now, as we question how to move people around and between each rapidly expanding metropolis, it makes sense to take another look at the natural world. In his book ‘Out of Control’, Kelvin Kelly says that, ‘the world of the made will increasingly come to resemble the world of the born.’

So, how is nature shaping today’s technology? ‘Applications to Fast and Fuel Efficient Transportation’ is an insightful article prepared by three KPIT Cummins research associates – Pallavi Kharade Bhure, Ankita Jain, and Reena Kumari Behera.

Published in TechTalk magazine, the piece explores the connection between nature and human transport. Dr. Vinay Vaidya is the Chief Editor of TechTalk, a quarterly journal of KPIT Cummins. Let’s take a look at a few examples…

Transport Aerodynamics

You’ve probably heard of Japan’s Shinkansen. One of the fastest trains in the world, it runs between Tokyo and Hakata at 200 miles per hour. While that kind of speed is impressive, at the design stage the real challenge was noise reduction.
Recognizing that owls are the most silent fliers, the Shinkansen’s designers set out to examine the secrets of the bird family’s wing plumage. Unlike other birds, owls have many saw-toothed feathers protruding from the outer wing of their primary feathers.

These generate small vortices in the airflow, which break up the larger vortices that produce noise. After four years of research, the fast train’s engineers reduced the vehicle’s clatter with wing-shaped pantographs, based exactly on the model of the owl’s wing serrations.

Bionic Concepts

When engineers at the Mercedes Benz Technology Centre began work on their latest Bionic Concept Car - designed to be aerodynamic, safe, spacious, and fuel efficient - they were motivated by nature.

Their studies showed that the angular structure of the boxfish allows for movement with minimal effort. Similar to a teardrop, the fish transports itself with an ideal, sleek form. After wind-tunnel tests using an approximate model of the boxfish, the engineers captured just what made the creature so aerodynamic. Along with this, they translated its bony, hexagonal skeleton to the concept car’s body, giving it maximum strength at a light weight.

Colony Optimization

One fascinating case of following nature’s lead comes from the most methodical of creatures. By examining bees, and in particular scout-bees, which leave their hive to search for pollen and nectar, researchers are discovering new ways to organize human transport. Our urban networks are heavily congested, which increases travel time, expenses, pollution, and even accidents. Ride sharing, or car pooling, is one answer to the problem, but making the system work requires an intricate, well-planned structure.

This is where bees come in. Researchers have created the Bee Colony Optimization (BCO) algorithm, which can be applied to chart origin points, destinations, capacities, and pick up and drop off times. Just as bees move resourcefully, it is possible for shared cars to save time and cost.

There are countless examples, both big and small, of nature paving the way for our ‘made’ structures. As we face modern transport challenges, we’ll see how fresh innovations come into play, and how the natural and technological worlds can continue to co-exist.