LESSONS ENGINEERS CAN LEARN FROM ANTS

Ants are one of nature’s tiny engineers. Ants build complex structures with vast networks of tunnels and chambers deep into the earth. The complex structures are designed to shelter millions of occupants. There is a lot that engineers can learn from ants, and in this article, we are going to explore the science and engineering of nature’s ants and the lessons we can learn from them.

Why Ants build?

Ants build complex structures to meet the needs of their colonies. These structures house millions of ants and protect them from predators and environmental elements. The key reason that motivates ants to build is to ensure the survival and thriving of their community. This is similar to what drives human infrastructure.

Engineering Solutions That Ants Use

1. Communication

Ants communicate using a language which combines pheromones (chemicals from their glands) as well as signals from their antennae. Ants can communicate the location of food and resources as well as threats. This demonstrates that communication is crucial for success when working in a group.

2. Collaboration

Ants are social organisms and work together to achieve a common goal. They also exhibit a collective intelligence which helps them to optimize their construction efforts. In the image below, ants exhibit collaboration by grouping together to form a bridge to overcome an obstacle.

3. Specialization

Ants work in specialized roles, with members assigned to different tasks such as resource collection and protection. This division of labour helps ants to be efficient at their tasks as each member focuses on a specific aspect of survival and colony maintenance.

4. Innovation

Ants are resourceful and have different ways of solving different problems. They utilize locally available materials for their construction. As an example, a species of ants called weaver ants, use its larvae to produce glue which is used to stick together leaves that form structures to house their colony.

5. Material design and selection

Material design and selection is an essential ability for any engineer. Ants show their engineering skills in how they choose and select materials for their structures. In weaver ants, worker ants test leaves by bending them to check if they have suitable flexibility to build their hive.

Key lessons to Learn from Ants

1. Collaboration and teamwork

Ants exemplify the power of working together seamlessly to achieve common goals. Engineers also need do to a similar thing to ensure project outcomes. Today, there are several tools available to make teamwork and collaboration easy such as project management platforms like Trello and Asana, as well as BIM systems for real-time collaboration during construction.

2. Embracing communication

Communication is key in any group activity. Engineers should learn to be better communicators to make teamwork and problem-solving easy. Thankfully, there are tools to help with this. You can use email and telephone to communicate remotely as well as video conferencing using platforms like Zoom, to conduct meetings.

3. Sustainability and resourcefulness

Ants use local materials to build, and in today’s world, it is key for engineers to adopt this kind of approach for sustainability. Transporting and using materials from far away sources has a negative impact of increasing a project’s carbon footprint and consequently affects the environment and climate.

4. Innovation

Ants are innovative in their method of construction. Engineers also need to look for innovative and simplified methods and tools to solve problems.

Conclusion

Looking at what ants do and the lessons we can learn from them shows that engineers and designers should do more biomimicry. With biomimicry, human beings can study and mimic nature’s strategies to solve problems.

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