Is this project an undergraduate, graduate, or faculty project?
Graduate
Project Type
individual
Campus
Daytona Beach
Authors' Class Standing
Spoorti Nanjamma, Graduate Student
Lead Presenter's Name
Spoorti Nanjamma
Lead Presenter's College
DB College of Engineering
Faculty Mentor Name
Bryan Watson
Abstract
This study investigates the application of Biologically Inspired Design (BID) tools within student-led satellite design teams, with the goal of enhancing early-stage systems engineering practices. As CubeSat missions become increasingly complex and resource-constrained, there is a need for approaches that support innovative yet structured problem-solving. While BID has shown promise in other engineering domains, its practical integration into satellite design, remains limited. To address this gap, three interactive workshops were developed and implemented with a Embry-Riddle Aeronautical university CubeSat team – Project COMET. The first workshop focused on functional decomposition, guiding students to express subsystem behavior in verb–noun form and establish clear functional hierarchies. The second introduced analogical transfer using an online database called AskNature, enabling teams to draw inspiration from biological systems using the functions identified in workshop 1 as the search keys. The third workshop applied BioTRIZ to identify and resolve design contradictions for the BIDs identified in workshop 2. Pre- and post-workshop surveys, along with analysis of student-generated artifacts through a rubric, were used to evaluate outcomes. Results indicate improvements in functional thinking, increased ability to abstract engineering problems, and greater openness to non-traditional solution spaces. However, challenges were observed in consistently applying functional language and interpreting BioTRIZ principles within limited time. Overall, with more time and conducting more workshops to collect more data, the study demonstrates the potential of structured BID interventions to support innovation in student satellite design.
Did this research project receive funding support (Spark, SURF, Research Abroad, Student Internal Grants, Collaborative, Climbing, or Ignite Grants) from the Office of Undergraduate Research?
No
Included in
Navigation, Guidance, Control and Dynamics Commons, Organizational Communication Commons, Systems Engineering and Multidisciplinary Design Optimization Commons
Investigation of Bio-Inspired Design Tools in Satellites
This study investigates the application of Biologically Inspired Design (BID) tools within student-led satellite design teams, with the goal of enhancing early-stage systems engineering practices. As CubeSat missions become increasingly complex and resource-constrained, there is a need for approaches that support innovative yet structured problem-solving. While BID has shown promise in other engineering domains, its practical integration into satellite design, remains limited. To address this gap, three interactive workshops were developed and implemented with a Embry-Riddle Aeronautical university CubeSat team – Project COMET. The first workshop focused on functional decomposition, guiding students to express subsystem behavior in verb–noun form and establish clear functional hierarchies. The second introduced analogical transfer using an online database called AskNature, enabling teams to draw inspiration from biological systems using the functions identified in workshop 1 as the search keys. The third workshop applied BioTRIZ to identify and resolve design contradictions for the BIDs identified in workshop 2. Pre- and post-workshop surveys, along with analysis of student-generated artifacts through a rubric, were used to evaluate outcomes. Results indicate improvements in functional thinking, increased ability to abstract engineering problems, and greater openness to non-traditional solution spaces. However, challenges were observed in consistently applying functional language and interpreting BioTRIZ principles within limited time. Overall, with more time and conducting more workshops to collect more data, the study demonstrates the potential of structured BID interventions to support innovation in student satellite design.