INTRODUCING

_inspirations A bio-inspired solution worth inventing. A form of local mobility that is as elegant, precise and energy-efficient as insects or small birds.

The living being or the property of the living world that fascinates you most. The very quick and oriented growth of long wisteria sprouts.

The place on Earth that you would protect above all others. The Loire Valley, or anywhere else in the world where man s labour and the wealth and beauty of nature come together in harmony.

1 - This thesis gave rise to one of the 41 films in the Nature=Future series accessible on the Vimeo platform: A More Human Engine . 2 - Small, independent electric vehicles, available on-demand. 3 - Or vehicles that change shape and behaviour according to their speed, thereby reducing energy consumption when braking.

What are the potential fields of application of bio-inspiration in the mobility-related industries?

We are continually striving to make our vehicles lighter in order to reduce their fuel consumption. So, we are working on both materials (fibres and composites) and on structures. We cannot easily reproduce everything that nature does, but 3D production may be an option for certain parts that are independent of factory production rates. In addition to self-cleaning surfaces, other surface functionalities can be bio-inspired for automotive applications: wettability, adhesion, self-repair, adaptive colour

Adaptive aerodynamics3 is another field for bio-inspiration that will be strategically important to increase the autonomy of electric vehicles on highways.

We could also mention the optimisation of the driving of autonomous vehicles in order to make traffic more fluid and collectively adapt their routes and behaviour. In this case, the model would be a swarm of insects or a shoal of fish, whose workings we are now beginning to understand.

In view of the scale of the environmental challenges, what needs to be done to prevent bio-inspiration from becoming just another tool?

Bio-inspiration can be viewed as something very opportunistic. We cannot remain in the realm of pure

biomimicry, and we have to concentrate our developments on industrial processes, through a more global control of environmental impacts over the complete life cycle.

My concern is to bring about changes in our operational practices. A French standard has already been proposed on bio-inspired eco-design. For example, for the automotive industry, the goal is to adopt it and to create standards for bio-inspiration by design. We plan to take part in the distribution of this standard and to set up the corresponding in-house training courses.

We have to be both modest and obstinate. A complete innovation cycle lasts about 5 years, but the climate- related issues are urgent.

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