12 Jan 2023
How can barrier-free access to buses and trains be ensured? What concepts does nature have in store and how can these be implemented technically? These questions were explored at the 2nd Biomimetic-Hackathon at the Biomimetic-Innovation-Centre (B-I-C), which took place at the end of November in the rooms of FreiRAUMS@HSB. The event was organized by BIOKON e.V. and the B-I-C. Innovative solutions were developed together with the industrial partner, Brose Fahrzeugteile Se & Co.KG, and the participants.
About 20 participants came together for an intensive 1.5 day Biomimetics-Hackathon at the HSB. The group was mixed and consisted of students, scientific staff, professors and engineers from the development department of the practice partner.
The hackathon kicked off with an introduction to the problem by the practical partner Brose Fahrzeugteile SE & Co. KG. As a leading automotive supplier, Brose has great expertise in mechatronic components and systems that are already used for entry-level car concepts. With the idea of making public transport accessible to all, the company is addressing a topic that is currently the focus of particular attention, and not just because of demographic change. "We are pleased to be able to work concretely on this highly relevant problem from practice with the biomimetic approach," says Prof. Dr. Antonia Kesel, head of the Biomimetics-Innovation-Centre. "Accordingly, during the hackathon, potential role models were researched in several small action teams, principles of action were derived, concepts were developed and initial prototypes were produced. For this purpose, the premises and the DesignMakerSpace of the newly established FreiRAUM@HSB at the HSB could be used "The Biomimetics-Hackathon has proven to be an excellent format to develop extremely promising approaches in a short period of time by involving very diverse competences and ideas. We now want to pursue the results in follow-up projects and are very confident of bringing solutions suitable for everyday use to the market. " Rejoices Prof. Kesel after the final presentation of results. "The hackathon has developed as a real "transfer booster" and we definitely want to make the format permanent at HSB." In the spring, however, the 10th Bremen Biomimetic-Congress "Patents from Nature" and the 20th anniversary of the biomimetics course are now on the agenda. A Biomimetics-Hackathon will probably not take place again until later in the year.
The Biomimetics-Hackathon was funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) as part of the "Ideenwettbewerbs Biologisierung der Technik".
