Preface
Biologically inspired robotics is an interdisciplinary subject between robotics and biology that mainly involves two technical areas. The first technical
area concerns how to apply biological ideas and phenomena to engineering
problems in robotics. In this area, robotics scientists are extensively engaging
in design of new robots or robot mechanisms that mimic creatures, invention of new types of sensors that function similarly to biological sensing systems, development of control algorithms that perform as well as a biological
sensory–motor control scheme does, design of new actuators that function as
muscles, etc. These efforts are indeed robotic engineering inspired by biology and are also called biomimetics. The primary issue of the second technical area is how to apply robotics technology to understanding of biological
systems and their behaviors. The topics in the second area include robotic
modeling of biological systems, simulations of biological behaviors, understanding of biological recognition and motor functions, etc. The second area
is also called bio-robotic modeling/analysis and its objective is to bring robotics
technology to biology via new breakthroughs.
The research of biologically inspired engineering can be traced back to a
few centuries ago. A famous example is the development of flying machines
that mimic flying birds. Probably the earliest work on biologically inspired
robotics is the humanoid robots developed by Ichiro Kato and his colleagues
in the early 1970s. Since then, biologically inspired robotics has been one
of the hottest and fastest-growing topics in robotics and many important
achievements have been made. For example, humanoid robots that are similar to humans in appearance and behaviors, robotic snakes, insects, fish,
and so on, have been developed in the last 20 years. Efforts in biologically
inspired robotics are not only restricted to research work in laboratories;
novel applications of the technology are also being extensively explored in
services, education, rehabilitation, medical care, and other sectors.
The objective of this book is to introduce the latest efforts in research on biologically inspired robotics. It is edited based on the original works presented
at the 2009 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Biomimetics
(ROBIO) held during December 20–23, 2009, in Guilin, China. ROBIO is an
international conference particularly focused on biologically inspired robotics. More than 500 robotics researchers from around the world took part in
ROBIO 2009. We selected 15 excellent works from 450 presentations at the
conference and requested that the authors contribute extended versions of
the papers as chapters of this book. The content covers both biomimetics
and bio-robotic modeling/analysis. Chapters on biologically inspired robot
design and control, bio-sensing, bio-actuation, and micro/nano bio-robotic
systems address the subject of biomimetics. Works on human hand motion
vii
Biologically inspired robotics is an interdisciplinary subject between robotics and biology that mainly involves two technical areas. The first technical
area concerns how to apply biological ideas and phenomena to engineering
problems in robotics. In this area, robotics scientists are extensively engaging
in design of new robots or robot mechanisms that mimic creatures, invention of new types of sensors that function similarly to biological sensing systems, development of control algorithms that perform as well as a biological
sensory–motor control scheme does, design of new actuators that function as
muscles, etc. These efforts are indeed robotic engineering inspired by biology and are also called biomimetics. The primary issue of the second technical area is how to apply robotics technology to understanding of biological
systems and their behaviors. The topics in the second area include robotic
modeling of biological systems, simulations of biological behaviors, understanding of biological recognition and motor functions, etc. The second area
is also called bio-robotic modeling/analysis and its objective is to bring robotics
technology to biology via new breakthroughs.
The research of biologically inspired engineering can be traced back to a
few centuries ago. A famous example is the development of flying machines
that mimic flying birds. Probably the earliest work on biologically inspired
robotics is the humanoid robots developed by Ichiro Kato and his colleagues
in the early 1970s. Since then, biologically inspired robotics has been one
of the hottest and fastest-growing topics in robotics and many important
achievements have been made. For example, humanoid robots that are similar to humans in appearance and behaviors, robotic snakes, insects, fish,
and so on, have been developed in the last 20 years. Efforts in biologically
inspired robotics are not only restricted to research work in laboratories;
novel applications of the technology are also being extensively explored in
services, education, rehabilitation, medical care, and other sectors.
The objective of this book is to introduce the latest efforts in research on biologically inspired robotics. It is edited based on the original works presented
at the 2009 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Biomimetics
(ROBIO) held during December 20–23, 2009, in Guilin, China. ROBIO is an
international conference particularly focused on biologically inspired robotics. More than 500 robotics researchers from around the world took part in
ROBIO 2009. We selected 15 excellent works from 450 presentations at the
conference and requested that the authors contribute extended versions of
the papers as chapters of this book. The content covers both biomimetics
and bio-robotic modeling/analysis. Chapters on biologically inspired robot
design and control, bio-sensing, bio-actuation, and micro/nano bio-robotic
systems address the subject of biomimetics. Works on human hand motion
vii