Lego Technic Mechanical Folding Flower

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Beauty is plentiful in nature, evolution created fantastic colours, structures and shapes. Living animals and plants are fascinating to study, especially their interactions and movements. In order to move, structural elements and some sort of intention have to act in unison.

Here, I simulate the movement of a flower, opening -  and closing, and of two insects (a Honeybee and a Bumblebee) that have come up to access the flower’s nectar.

Nature has inspired the construction of many machines, and the construction of nature-like machines has helped understanding how biological mechanics might work. Even though cogs and gears appear entirely human-made, in 2013 researchers from Cambridge University in the UK discovered the first example of gears being used in an animal.

Issus coleoptratus is (so far) the only known animal to have developed ‘gears’ in the legs, which it uses to help its hind legs jump in synchronisation. While Issus is in fact a planthopper and not a plant, I am still fascinated by this integration of mechanics in nature.

My mechanical flower aims to capture the beauty and fascination that nature holds with mechanical and structural components that Lego Technic provides. It makes a perfect set, as it is a fun and unusual building challenge and the end result is tremendously rewarding. I hope it inspires the same feelings in YOU!

gear count: 55