Short Course Description
The objective of the course is to expose zoology graduate students (and some 3rd year undergraduate students, conditioned on approval by the lecturer) to the field of comparative biomechanics where knowledge, analytical tools and theory from engineering are applied to the study of animals and their adaptation to the environment.
Credit: 2 semester credit points
Description: Prior knowledge of physics and engineering is not required but students are expected to be open to learning and practicing subjects in the interface between biology and engineering. In addition to frontal lectures, the course will include mandatory home assignments involving code writing in MATLAB or a similar computer language. The course material focuses on examples from the animal kingdom with 2/3 dedicated to basic principles and the last 1/3 of the course focusing on animal flight. The basic principles for working with MATLAB (for the home assignments) will be given during the course.
Academic prerequisite:
None. Zoology (04551569) - recommended. Animal Locomotion (04552812) - highly recommended.
Final Grade: four home assignments requiring MATLAB (50%) and a final exam (50%)
Text Books:
1) Vogel, S (2013) Comparative Biomechanics. Princeton University Press
2) Ennos, R (2012) Solid Biomechanics. Princeton University Press
3) Gorb, S (2001) Attachment devices of insect cuticle. Kluwer Academic Publishers
Schedule:
Week Topic
1) Introduction - what is comparative biomechanics? Why do we need it? Scaling and non-dimensional numbers in insect research
2) Attachment mechanisms and surface phenomena
3) MATLAB introduction crash course
4,5) Statics and materials
5,6) Accelerations and maneuvering
7,8) Skeletons and motion - coordinate systems, motion equations and Euler angles
9) Basic principles for flying and swimming animals
10) From flight biomechanics to energetics in bird migration
11-13) Insect flight biomechanics, physiology anatomy and behavior
Full Syllabus
