Note that there are two broad classes of bionic systems, more examples of which may be found in the Taxonomy of Bionic Systems.

1. Analogic synthetic bionic systems

   These are technical systems based on biological principles. The classic example is developing radar from the study of bat echo location principles. This is what many designers think of as bionics. Examples range from "cold light" devices based on bioluminescent marine animals, to tensile structures based on spider webs, to solar arrays that track the sun like sunflowers, to irridescent art forms based on the keratin structure in bird feathers that refracts light. There are, of course, many many other examples.

2. Composition synthetic bionic systems

   These are systems that contain both technical and biological components. This can serve as a design paradigm for analyzing relationships between the artificial and natural as whole systems. A person driving a car or wearing glasses, human-computer interaction (HCI), the city and its surrounding ecosystem, crocodiles that swallow rocks as ballast, and the cyborgs of science fiction are all bionic systems of this sort.