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Biomimetics
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Learning from Nature—2nd Edition: Bionics in Design Practice
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Learning from Nature—2nd Edition: Bionics in Design Practice

A special issue of Biomimetics (ISSN 2313-7673). This special issue belongs to the section "Biomimetic Design, Constructions and Devices".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 July 2024) | Viewed by 17000

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Shupeng Wang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Key Laboratory of Bionic Engineering (Ministry of Education), Jilin University, Changchun, China
Interests: bionic sensors and actuators; intelligent actuating materials; dynamic drag reduction technology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Pengyun Xu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Engineering College, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, China
Interests: thermal spray coating; thermal spray technology; spraying process simulation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Yangyang Wei

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Architecture and Design College, Nanchang University, Nanchang, China
Interests: digital simulation design; bionic cross design; data visualization design; computer-aided design
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

There is a clear connection between humans, nature, and design: humans are part of the natural world, and their design inspiration often comes from nature. Excellent design practices follow the premise of 'human-centeredness' and adhere to the sustainability of design. It is worth noting that the original intention of design was to improve the external environment (natural/architectural environment) and living conditions of humans. In this process, the sustainability of 'design' further becomes a 'learning behavior' that integrates, coordinates, and unifies 'humans' and 'nature'. Although 'design' is extensive, the purpose of design is to become specific, regular, and valuable through learning from biomimetic practices. This Special Issue focuses on the application of biomimetics in design practices and delves into practical cases and issues in environmental design, architectural design, mechanical design, product design, industrial design, engineering design, and other broad or specific design fields. At the same time, this Special Issue also welcomes the submission of papers addressing advanced biomimetic theories and biomimetic design perspectives in design practice.

Based on this, we continue to build on the Special Issue entitled  'Learning from Nature 2.0 : Bionics in Design Practice' to deepen the idea of 'biomimetic design' between 'humans' and 'nature'. We sincerely invite architects, urban planners, mechanical designers, product designers, industrial designers, engineering experts, engineers, designers, and other expert scholars from around the world to share theoretical viewpoints and case studies related to cutting-edge innovations in this domain. Our aim is to promote the deep development and innovation of biomimetic design through this theme, continuously improve and optimize human design behavior in the natural world, and make positive contributions to the sustainability of the human living environment.

Dr. Shupeng Wang
Dr. Pengyun Xu
Dr. Yangyang Wei
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

  • bionic theory in design frontiers
  • bionic case and practice in architectural design
  • bionic case and practice in urban planning and design
  • bionic case and practice in mechanical design
  • bionic case and practice in engineering design
  • bionic case and practice in computer engineering
  • bionic case and practice in product design
  • bionic case and practice in industrial design
  • bionic case and practice in sustainable design

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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27 pages, 76943 KiB  
Article
Design and Validation of a Biomimetic Leg-Claw Mechanism Capable of Perching and Grasping for Multirotor Drones
by Yan Zhao, Ruzhi Xiang, Hui Li, Chang Wang, Jianhua Zhang, Xuan Liu and Yufei Hao
Biomimetics 2025, 10(1), 10; https://doi.org/10.3390/biomimetics10010010 - 27 Dec 2024
Viewed by 1346
Abstract
Multirotor drones are widely used in fields such as environmental monitoring, agricultural inspection, and package delivery, but they still face numerous challenges in durability and aerial operation capabilities. To address these issues, this paper presents a biomimetic leg-claw mechanism (LCM) inspired by the [...] Read more.
Multirotor drones are widely used in fields such as environmental monitoring, agricultural inspection, and package delivery, but they still face numerous challenges in durability and aerial operation capabilities. To address these issues, this paper presents a biomimetic leg-claw mechanism (LCM) inspired by the biomechanics of birds. The claw of the LCM adopts a bistable gripper design that can rapidly close through external impact or actively close via the coordination of internal mechanisms. Additionally, its foldable, parallelogram-shaped legs bend under external forces, stretching the main tendon. A ratchet and pawl mechanism at the knee joint locks the leg in the bent position, thereby enhancing the gripping force of the claw. This paper calculates and experimentally verifies the degrees of freedom in different states, the forces required to open and close the gripper, the application scenarios of active and passive grasping, and the maximum load capacity of the mechanism. Furthermore, perching experiments demonstrate that the LCM enables the drone to perch stably on objects of varying diameters. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Learning from Nature—2nd Edition: Bionics in Design Practice)
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15 pages, 1853 KiB  
Article
Distributed Broadcast Control of Multi-Agent Systems Using Hierarchical Coordination
by Mahmudul Hasan, Mohammad Khalid Saifullah, Md Abdus Samad Kamal and Kou Yamada
Biomimetics 2024, 9(7), 407; https://doi.org/10.3390/biomimetics9070407 - 5 Jul 2024
Viewed by 1417
Abstract
Broadcast control (BC) is a bio-inspired coordination technique for a swarm of agents in which a single coordinator broadcasts an identical scalar signal to all performing agents without discrimination, and the agents make appropriate moves towards the agents’ collective optimal state without communicating [...] Read more.
Broadcast control (BC) is a bio-inspired coordination technique for a swarm of agents in which a single coordinator broadcasts an identical scalar signal to all performing agents without discrimination, and the agents make appropriate moves towards the agents’ collective optimal state without communicating with one another. The BC technique aims to accomplish a globally assigned task for which BC utilizes a stochastic optimization algorithm to coordinate a group of agents. However, the challenge intensifies as the system becomes larger: it requires a larger number of agents, which protracts the converging time for a single coordinator-based BC model. This paper proposes a revamped version of BC model, which assimilates distributed multiple coordinators to control a larger multi-agent system efficiently in a pragmatic manner. Precisely, in this hierarchical BC scheme, the distributed multiple sub-coordinators broadcast the identical feedback signal to the agents, which they receive from the global coordinator to accomplish the coverage control task of the ordinary agents. The dual role of sub-coordinators is manipulated by introducing weighted averaging of the gradient estimation under the stochastic optimization mechanism. The potency of the proposed model is analyzed with numerical simulation for a coverage control task, and various performance aspects are compared with the typical BC schemes to demonstrate its practicability and performance improvement. Particularly, the proposed scheme shows the same convergence with about 30% less traveling costs, and the near convergence is reached by only about one-third of iteration steps compared to the typical BC. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Learning from Nature—2nd Edition: Bionics in Design Practice)
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28 pages, 9559 KiB  
Article
Coniferous Trees as Bioinspiration for Designing Long Reinforced Prestressed Concrete Columns
by Traian-Nicu Toader, Călin G.-R. Mircea, Alina M. Truta and Horia Constantinescu
Biomimetics 2024, 9(3), 165; https://doi.org/10.3390/biomimetics9030165 - 7 Mar 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2255
Abstract
This article contains the results of identifying the potential of coniferous trees to act as bioinspiration for the structural design of columns in single-story warehouses subjected to high wind velocity and severe seismic action. This study starts by analyzing the biomechanics of coniferous [...] Read more.
This article contains the results of identifying the potential of coniferous trees to act as bioinspiration for the structural design of columns in single-story warehouses subjected to high wind velocity and severe seismic action. This study starts by analyzing the biomechanics of coniferous trees, continues with an abstraction of the relevant features, and ends with the transfer of a design methodology for long reinforced and prestressed concrete columns. To verify the applicability and validity of the mathematical relationships extracted from the bibliographic study to characterize the biomechanics of coniferous trees, a study site is conducted for Norway spruce trees felled by the wind in the Bilbor area. The design methodology for long reinforced and prestressed concrete columns bioinspired by the Norway spruce trees is experimentally validated using two case studies. The first case study deals with the effect of centric prestressing on long concrete columns, and the second on the influence of the walnut shell powder on the adhesion of the reinforcement in concrete. The case studies presented aim to transfer some characteristics from trees to reinforced concrete to improve the performance of long columns under horizontal forces. The results obtained indicate a good approximation of the trees’ structural behavior for this site and for ones investigated by other researchers in different forests. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Learning from Nature—2nd Edition: Bionics in Design Practice)
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Review

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31 pages, 4658 KiB  
Review
Nature’s Load-Bearing Design Principles and Their Application in Engineering: A Review
by Firas Breish, Christian Hamm and Simone Andresen
Biomimetics 2024, 9(9), 545; https://doi.org/10.3390/biomimetics9090545 - 9 Sep 2024
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3590
Abstract
Biological structures optimized through natural selection provide valuable insights for engineering load-bearing components. This paper reviews six key strategies evolved in nature for efficient mechanical load handling: hierarchically structured composites, cellular structures, functional gradients, hard shell–soft core architectures, form follows function, and robust [...] Read more.
Biological structures optimized through natural selection provide valuable insights for engineering load-bearing components. This paper reviews six key strategies evolved in nature for efficient mechanical load handling: hierarchically structured composites, cellular structures, functional gradients, hard shell–soft core architectures, form follows function, and robust geometric shapes. The paper also discusses recent research that applies these strategies to engineering design, demonstrating their effectiveness in advancing technical solutions. The challenges of translating nature’s designs into engineering applications are addressed, with a focus on how advancements in computational methods, particularly artificial intelligence, are accelerating this process. The need for further development in innovative material characterization techniques, efficient modeling approaches for heterogeneous media, multi-criteria structural optimization methods, and advanced manufacturing techniques capable of achieving enhanced control across multiple scales is underscored. By highlighting nature’s holistic approach to designing functional components, this paper advocates for adopting a similarly comprehensive methodology in engineering practices to shape the next generation of load-bearing technical components. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Learning from Nature—2nd Edition: Bionics in Design Practice)
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58 pages, 5789 KiB  
Review
From Nature to Technology: Exploring the Potential of Plant-Based Materials and Modified Plants in Biomimetics, Bionics, and Green Innovations
by Marcela-Elisabeta Barbinta-Patrascu, Bogdan Bita and Irina Negut
Biomimetics 2024, 9(7), 390; https://doi.org/10.3390/biomimetics9070390 - 26 Jun 2024
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 7338
Abstract
This review explores the extensive applications of plants in areas of biomimetics and bioinspiration, highlighting their role in developing sustainable solutions across various fields such as medicine, materials science, and environmental technology. Plants not only serve essential ecological functions but also provide a [...] Read more.
This review explores the extensive applications of plants in areas of biomimetics and bioinspiration, highlighting their role in developing sustainable solutions across various fields such as medicine, materials science, and environmental technology. Plants not only serve essential ecological functions but also provide a rich source of inspiration for innovations in green nanotechnology, biomedicine, and architecture. In the past decade, the focus has shifted towards utilizing plant-based and vegetal waste materials in creating eco-friendly and cost-effective materials with remarkable properties. These materials are employed in making advancements in drug delivery, environmental remediation, and the production of renewable energy. Specifically, the review discusses the use of (nano)bionic plants capable of detecting explosives and environmental contaminants, underscoring their potential in improving quality of life and even in lifesaving applications. The work also refers to the architectural inspirations drawn from the plant world to develop novel design concepts that are both functional and aesthetic. It elaborates on how engineered plants and vegetal waste have been transformed into value-added materials through innovative applications, especially highlighting their roles in wastewater treatment and as electronic components. Moreover, the integration of plants in the synthesis of biocompatible materials for medical applications such as tissue engineering scaffolds and artificial muscles demonstrates their versatility and capacity to replace more traditional synthetic materials, aligning with global sustainability goals. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the current and potential uses of living plants in technological advancements, advocating for a deeper exploration of vegetal materials to address pressing environmental and technological challenges. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Learning from Nature—2nd Edition: Bionics in Design Practice)
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