Design of Bio-Inspired Soft Interfaces for Object Manipulation

A special issue of Biomimetics (ISSN 2313-7673). This special issue belongs to the section "Biomimetic Surfaces and Interfaces".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2022) | Viewed by 625

Special Issue Editors


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Mechanics, Mathematics and Management, Polytechnic University of Bari, Via E. Orabona, 4, 70125 Bari, Italy
Interests: tribology; contact mechanics; adhesion; finite element modeling; biomimetics; friction; viscoelasticity; surface roughness; thermoelasticity
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Recently, scientists have devoted increasing efforts to developing and using compliant interfaces to benefit from their intrinsic adaptability properties. Such interfaces are extensively used, for example, in soft grippers, reversible adhesives, tactile sensors, and microtransfer printing. The aim is to develop systems that deal with uncertainty and dynamic tasks like grasping and manipulation of unknown objects.

Therefore, inspired by nature, many researchers have been focusing their studies on ways to control mechanical properties on-demand.

However, contact mechanics of soft matter is not yet fully understood, due to its intrinsic viscoelasticity and rate-dependent features. In fact, the contact mechanical response of soft matter is strongly affected by the instantaneous value of its modulus, which is a function of the temperature and the frequency of excitation.

In addition, interaction phenomena occurring at the contact interface (e.g., dry and/or wet adhesion, electroadhesion, surface tension, etc.) and the surface topography characteristics (isotropy, random or ordered roughness, waviness, etc.) greatly complicate the picture.

Finally, material properties and surface interaction forces can be responsible of energy dissipation phenomena. Therefore, their control can be of crucial importance in many applications ranging from the nanoscale to the macroscopic one (e.g., superlubricity, self-cleaning surfaces, soft robots, MEMS and NEMS devices, etc.).

The very large number of scientific expertise required to deal with these topics needs an interdisciplinary approach that includes physics, material science, mechanical engineering, mathematics, chemistry, and biology. The aim of the present Special Issue is to stimulate a discussion on the most recent studies in the field of biomimetics with the aim of improving the knowledge on the behavior of soft interfaces frequently used in manipulation systems and thus opening new scenarios for modern engineering applications.

For this reason, authors are invited to submit original papers and review articles, both theoretical and experimental, aimed at providing novel solutions that enable sustainable innovation.

Prof. Dr. Giuseppe Carbone
Prof. Dr. Luciano Afferrante
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

  • adhesion
  • friction
  • tribology
  • wetting
  • biomimetics
  • roughness
  • peeling
  • thin films
  • surface tension
  • soft matter
  • robotics
  • object manipulation
  • grippers
  • micro-manipulation systems
  • MEMS
  • NEMS

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.

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

Published Papers

There is no accepted submissions to this special issue at this moment.
Back to TopTop