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Biomimetics
Special Issues
Biologically Inspired Design and Control of Robots: Second Edition
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Biologically Inspired Design and Control of Robots: Second Edition

A special issue of Biomimetics (ISSN 2313-7673). This special issue belongs to the section "Locomotion and Bioinspired Robotics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2024 | Viewed by 2665

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Peng Li

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Mechanical Engineering and Automation, Harbin Institute of Technology Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China
Interests: miniature robot; morphing mechanism; mechanism design; metamorphous multirotor
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Yantao Shen

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Electrical and Biomedical Engineering, University of Nevada Reno, Reno, NV 89557, USA
Interests: biomimic robot design; snake robot control; shape morpihing mechanism
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Shan Luo

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Engineering, King’s College London, London SE5 9NU, UK
Interests: visuo-tactile robotics; robot visuo-tactile sensing; multimodal robot perception; robot learning for grasping and manipulation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The design and control of robots based on the biological mechanisms of plants and animals in nature is a key theme in robotics research. As a discipline arising from the fusion of new materials, mechanical design, motor control, and AI algorithms, biomimetics provides unique inspiration for advancing the development of cognitive and collaborative functionalities, as well as improving the dexterous and versatile manipulation capabilities of robots.

The aim of this second volume is to collect contributions on the design and control of bionic robots. By covering issues from biomimetic materials to biomimetic mechanical design, brain-inspired robotic cognition-related learning, and bioinspired control, our Special Issue provides an updated view of the status quo and perspectives in a rapidly growing field of the design and control of bionic robots. The present collection of papers, taking advantage of the open access format, is expected to provide a paradigm of the power of biomimetic approaches for discovering new important research avenues and for innovative solutions in the design and control of bionic robots.

To further its aims of combining basic research and applications, this Special Issue is divided into two main focuses:

  1. Design, covering topics such as: the mechanical design of biomimetic robots; intelligent sensors (e.g., vision, tactile, etc.) for perception and exploration; new materials; applications of biomimetic robotics in industry, e.g., manipulation, robot assisted surgery.
  2. Control, including bioinspired robotic learning and control, intelligent learning methods from a biomimetic view; computational neuroscience of perception and action; bionic motion control; advanced multi-modal sensing information fusion.

We believe that this initiative will fill an important gap in biomimetic technologies.

Dr. Peng Li
Prof. Dr. Yantao Shen
Dr. Shan Luo
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Biomimetics is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • mechanical design
  • biomimetic robots
  • intelligent sensors
  • new materials
  • bioinspired robotic learning and control
  • intelligent learning methods
  • computational neuroscience
  • advanced multimodal sensing information fusion

Published Papers (2 papers)

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16 pages, 2045 KiB  
Article
Design and Analysis of a Novel Bionic Tensegrity Robotic Fish with a Continuum Body
by Di Chen, Bo Wang, Yan Xiong, Jie Zhang, Ru Tong, Yan Meng and Junzhi Yu
Biomimetics 2024, 9(1), 19; https://doi.org/10.3390/biomimetics9010019 - 02 Jan 2024
Viewed by 1234
Abstract
Biological fish exhibit remarkable adaptability and exceptional swimming performance through their powerful and flexible bodies. Therefore, designing a continuum flexible body is significantly important for the development of a robotic fish. However, it is still challenging to replicate these functions of a biological [...] Read more.
Biological fish exhibit remarkable adaptability and exceptional swimming performance through their powerful and flexible bodies. Therefore, designing a continuum flexible body is significantly important for the development of a robotic fish. However, it is still challenging to replicate these functions of a biological body due to the limitations of actuation and material. In this paper, based on a tensegrity structure, we propose a bionic design scheme for a continuum robotic fish body with a property of stiffness variation. Its detailed structures and actuation principles are also presented. A mathematical model was established to analyze the bending characteristics of the tensegrity structure, which demonstrates the feasibility of mimicking the fish-like oscillation propulsion. Additionally, the stiffness variation mechanism is also exhibited experimentally to validate the effectiveness of the designed tensegrity fish body. Finally, a novel bionic robotic fish design scheme is proposed, integrating an electronic module-equipped fish head, a tensegrity body, and a flexible tail with a caudal fin. Subsequently, a prototype was developed. Extensive experiments were conducted to explore how control parameters and stiffness variation influence swimming velocity and turning performance. The obtained results reveal that the oscillation amplitude, frequency, and stiffness variation of the tensegrity robotic fish play crucial roles in swimming motions. With the stiffness variation, the developed tensegrity robotic fish achieves a maximum swimming velocity of 295 mm/s (0.84 body length per second, BL/s). Moreover, the bionic tensegrity robotic fish also performs a steering motion with a minimum turning radius of 230 mm (0.68 BL) and an angular velocity of 46.6°/s. The conducted studies will shed light on the novel design of a continuum robotic fish equipped with stiffness variation mechanisms. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biologically Inspired Design and Control of Robots: Second Edition)
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17 pages, 16908 KiB  
Article
Modeling Contact Stiffness of Soft Fingertips for Grasping Applications
by Xiaolong Ma, Lingfeng Chen, Yanfeng Gao, Daliang Liu and Binrui Wang
Biomimetics 2023, 8(5), 398; https://doi.org/10.3390/biomimetics8050398 - 01 Sep 2023
Viewed by 1026
Abstract
Soft fingertips have distinct intrinsic features that allow robotic hands to offer adjustable and manageable stiffness for grasping. The stability of the grasp is determined by the contact stiffness between the soft fingertip and the object. Within this work, we proposed a line [...] Read more.
Soft fingertips have distinct intrinsic features that allow robotic hands to offer adjustable and manageable stiffness for grasping. The stability of the grasp is determined by the contact stiffness between the soft fingertip and the object. Within this work, we proposed a line vector representation method based on the Winkler Model and investigated the contact stiffness between soft fingertips and objects to achieve control over the gripping force and fingertip displacement of the gripper without the need for sensors integrated in the fingertip. First, we derived the stiffness matrix of the soft fingertip, analyzed the contact stiffness, and constructed the global stiffness matrix; then, we established the grasp stiffness matrix based on the contact stiffness model, allowing for the analysis and evaluation of the soft fingertip’s manipulating process. Finally, our experiment demonstrated that the variation in object orientation caused by external forces can indicate the contact force status between the fingertip and the object. This contact force status is determined by the contact stiffness. The position error between the theoretical work and tested data was less than 9%, and the angle error was less than 5.58%. The comparison between the theoretical contact stiffness and the experimental results at the interface indicate that the present model for the contact stiffness is appropriate and the theoretical contact stiffness is consistent with the experiment data. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biologically Inspired Design and Control of Robots: Second Edition)
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