Bionics4Education

Bionic Flower

The Bionic Flower is a

construction kit inspired by

the plant world. It opens and

closes its petals in response

to external inuences such

as approach or light. These

mechanisms of action are

simulated with sensors and

actuators and can be learned

in a playful way by students

in class. The bio-inspired

design applies the principles

from the plant world

to technology by means

of scientic and technical

questions. This rounds off

the teaching of curriculum

topics in STEM education

(Science, Technology,

Engineering, and Maths).

Natural role models

Festo Didactic took the

mechanisms of action of water

lilies and mimosa plants as

a model for the development

of the Bionic Flower. These

plants have one thing in

common: the opening and

closing of their leaves due to

external stimuli. The effects

serve for reproduction and

protection against natural

enemies.

Water lilies and mimosa plants

The single standing water lilies

have a screw-like structure

and open and close their

leaves depending on the light

intensity determined by the

circadian rhythm. In mimosa,

on the other hand, the leaves

close one after the other in

response to mechanical stimuli

such as touch or vibration. www.festo-didactic.com

Highlights

• Getting to know the

concepts of bionics

• Understanding and

applying biological

phenomena

• Simple control via

mobile devices

• Gain rst experiences

with programming

• Using a microcontroller

• Getting girls interested

in technical topics

• Playfully promoting

creativity

Bionics4Education

Bionic Flower

Modular concept

With the help of the

construction kit, students can

build a mechanical drive unit

and learn how it can react to

changes in the environment.

The Bionic Flower has 15 paper

petals and a mechanism that

opens and closes them. It is

controlled via WiFi hotspot

using mobile devices. Working

with the robot ower in teams

is recommended.

Promoting creativity

The students can design the

petals using their own ideas.

Some components can

be printed using 3D printing

technology or the students

can make their own

redesigns. This is intended

to experiments foster.

Coding

The basic functions of the

robot ower can be used

without programming.

Furthermore, the

microcontroller can be

programmed with the graphic

coding interface “Open

Roberta”. Experienced

students can also program

their Bionic Flower in C++.

The open source code is

available on the internet.

Sensors and lighting effects

The students can experiment

with the light and proximity

sensors and adapt the control

system to various scenarios.

With the built-in LEDs, the

Bionic Flower can respond

to chosen stimuli with

selected colors.

Online learning environment

The website has accompanying

teaching material, and building

instructions for the pupils are

also available as a free online

download. For additional

activities, CAD and download

les are available as well.

STEM reference

The project-based approach

of the Bionic Flower is an

excellent way of conveying

bionic thinking and working in

the classroom. Topics such as

control and regulation, sensor

technology, stepper motors,

evolutionary principles, light

and color, sustainability,

reproduction, and distribution

can be addressed in class.

Promotion of competence

Above all, working with the

bionics learning construction

kit promotes the following

learner competencies:

communication, collaboration,

and creativity.

Cooperation partners

The Bionic Flower construction

kit was developed in

cooperation with Sky Spirit

and is a part of the coding

environment Open Roberta,

an initiative founded by

Fraunhofer.

Bionic Flower – Promotes teamwork

Festo Didactic SE

Rechbergstrasse 3

73770 Denkendorf

Germany

did@festo.com

www.festo-didactic.com

Further information: