Problem:
I’m trying to solve how to remove small objects that are stuck in small spaces.
Biomimicry Idea:
Mimic a honey bee. A honey bee helps solve this problem by biting onto plants and vibrating their wings at 400 beats per second. My device is a small hand held device that has a small motor. To get objects out of small places it will vibrate like a bee. As it vibrates, the machine’s two prongs will attach to the item that the object is stuck in and will help the object shake out from where it is stuck.
How does nature help a honey bee get pollen?
Nature helps a honey bee get pollen. Like the tomato flower, the bees have to latch on with their teeth and vibrate using their wings to shake pollen out. The honey bees shake all the pollen onto their hind legs and take it back to their nests to feed the larva so that they grow into more honey bees.
Only bumblebees and certain other insects can get this pollen out. In every case, the method is the same: the pollinator grabs the tube with its jaws and starts vibrating hundreds of times a second.
“It has to hold on, because the vibrations are so strong that otherwise it could come flying off the flower,” claims Mario Vallejo-Marín of the University of Stirling in Scotland.
The animals produce a peculiar buzz with this technique. They’re creating resonating vibrations to loosen the pollen grains inside pollen tubes. “The bees are turning themselves into living tuning forks,” said Dr. Buchmann.
The bees cause the pollen grains to bounce up and down in the tube and then gain so much energy they blast out in a cloud that coats the bee. As it flies off, the insect gathers the grains out of its fur and tucks most of them in wet clumps on its legs. It can later feed the clumps to larvae back at its hive.
source : http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/11/science/unraveling-the-pollinating-secrets-of-a-bees-buzz.html?_r=0
