La biónica es la aplicación de soluciones biológicas a la técnica de los sistemas de arquitectura, diseño, ingeniería y tecnología moderna. Etimológicamente, la palabra viene del griego "bios"; que significa vida y el sufijo "´-ico" que significa "relativo a". Asimismo, existe la ingeniería biónica que abarca varias disciplinas con el objetivo de concatenar (hacer trabajar juntos) sistemas biológicos y electrónicos, por ejemplo para crear prótesis activadas por los robots controlados por una señal biológica o también crear modelos artificiales de cosas que solo existen en la naturaleza, por ejemplo la visión artificial y la inteligencia artificial también llamada cibernética. Se podría decir, la biónica es aquella rama de la cibernética que trata de simular el comportamiento de los seres vivos haciéndolos mejores en casi todas las ramas por medio de instrumentos mecánicos. Los seres vivos son máquinas complejas, dotadas de una gran variedad de instrumentos de medición, de análisis, de recepción de estímulos y de reacción y respuesta, esto es gracias a los cinco sentidos que hemos desarrollado.Crear máquinas que se comporten como cerebros humanos, capacitadas para observar un comportamiento inteligente y aprender de él, es parte del campo de la investigación de la robótica y la inteligencia artificial (IA). Dentro de ese comportamiento inteligente se encuentran tanto las actividades relacionadas con el raciocinio, es decir, estrategia y planeamiento, como con la percepción y reconocimiento de imágenes, colores, sonidos, etc.

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Bionics is the application of biological methods and systems found in nature to the study and design of engineering systems and modern technology. The word bionic was coined by Jack E. Steele in 1958, possibly originating from the technical term bion (pronounced BEE-on; from Ancient Greek: βίος), meaning 'unit of life' and the suffix -ic, meaning 'like' or 'in the manner of', hence 'like life'. Some dictionaries, however, explain the word as being formed as a portmanteau from biology and electronics. It was popularized by the 1970s U.S. television series The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman, both based upon the novel Cyborg by Martin Caidin, which was itself influenced by Steele's work. All feature humans given superhuman powers by electromechanical implants. The transfer of technology between lifeforms and manufactures is, according to proponents of bionic technology, desirable because evolutionary pressure typically forces living organisms, including fauna and flora, to become highly optimized and efficient. A classical example is the development of dirt- and water-repellent paint (coating) from the observation that the surface of the lotus flower plant is practically unsticky for anything (the lotus effect).. The term "biomimetic" is preferred when reference is made to chemical reactions. In that domain, biomimetic chemistry refers to reactions that, in nature, involve biological macromolecules (e.g. enzymes or nucleic acids) whose chemistry can be replicated in vitro using much smaller molecules. Examples of bionics in engineering include the hulls of boats imitating the thick skin of dolphins; sonar, radar, and medical ultrasound imaging imitating animal echolocation. In the field of computer science, the study of bionics has produced artificial neurons, artificial neural networks, and swarm intelligence. Evolutionary computation was also motivated by bionics ideas but it took the idea further by simulating evolution in silico and producing well-optimized solutions that had never appeared in nature. It is estimated by Julian Vincent, professor of biomimetics at the University of Bath's Department of Mechanical Engineering, that "at present there is only a 12% overlap between biology and technology in terms of the mechanisms used".

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