Method for Product-Integrated Innovation Based on Biological Inspiration

Existing research on integrated innovation primarily focuses on the integration of product functions or technologies in the engineering field, with limited exploration of cross-domain integration of biological knowledge. Various organisms exhibit various advantageous biological characteristics, and the multi-biological knowledge embedded within these characteristics can inspire designers to implement product integrated innovation. Biologically Inspired Design (BID) is a method that seeks inspiration from nature to achieve innovation in the engineering field. However, existing BID processes mainly apply the features of a single biological prototype. Against this background, this paper emphasizes how to achieve cross-domain integrated innovation through multi-biological knowledge. First, a method for generating integrated innovation ideas is proposed, achieved through obtaining biological prototypes and analyzing biological performance. Second, by obtaining the principal solution through the three mapping methods of biological effects, behaviors, and structures, a method for building the conceptual structure of integrated innovation is proposed. Finally, in conjunction with the Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TRIZ), a product-integrated innovation design process model based on biological inspiration is constructed. The method is validated with an example of a six-legged firefighting robot.