Ford Motor Company is aiming to develop new adhesive innovations modelled on the natural adhesion of geckos. Better adhesive solutions could represent a crucial step in making the disassembly and consequent reuse and recycling of Ford’s products and materials possible at a larger scale, opening up significant economic opportunities for the company in the process.
The toe pads of the gecko allow them to stick to surfaces without using liquids or creating surface tension, and can be easily released leaving nothing behind. Now, engineers are imagining how this insight could be put to use if replicated in Ford’s products, as a replacement for the glues usually used to adhere foams to plastics and metals.
Biomimicry, a design approach where design solutions are developed by mimicking nature, has been adopted by the company to help provide a range of business innovations. This certainly isn’t the first time biomimicry has been used in this way. For example, the Japanese Bullet Train was designed with inspiration from the kingfisher and medical needles have been improved through the study of mosquitoes.
The investigation into the gecko and potential adhesives is part of a wider adoption of the biomimetic approach among Ford’s design teams. The company recently held a workshop, where close to 200 designers and researchers took part in a session on how to apply biomimicry to their field of work.
Source: Looking to the Gecko for Answers: Ford to Seek Solutions by Mimicking Nature
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