Learning bioinspired joint geometry from motion capture data of bat flight
Bioinspired robotic systems are often designed by assuming that the kinematics of the biological
system of interest are well approximated by an open kinematic chain subject to box constraints.
These box-constrains are typically generated by designer interpretation of biomotion and anatomical
studies or pragmatic fabrication constraints. In contrast to this standard design paradigm, this
paper presents a methodology for learning joint geometry which restricts the range of motion of
generic ball joints to only the reachable set observed during biomotion experiments. This reachable
set is identified by constructing an a...
Source: Bioinspiration and Biomimetics - April 8, 2019 Category: Science Authors: Matthew Bender, Jia Guo, Nathan Powell, Andrew Kurdila and Rolf M üller Source Type: research
Canal neuromasts enhance foraging in zebrafish ( Danio rerio )
Aquatic animals commonly sense flow using superficial neuromasts (SNs), which are receptors that
extend from the body ’s surface. The lateral line of fishes is unique among these systems because it
additionally possesses receptors, the canal neuromasts (CNs), that are recessed within a channel.
The lateral line has inspired the development of engineered sensors and concepts in the analysis of
flow fields for submersible navigation. The biophysics of CNs are known to be different from the SNs
and thereby offer a distinct submodality. However, it is generally unclear whether CNs play a
distinct role in behavior. We t...
Source: Bioinspiration and Biomimetics - April 8, 2019 Category: Science Authors: Andres Carrillo, Dan Van Le, Margaret Byron, Houshuo Jiang and Matthew J McHenry Source Type: research
A bio-inspired electric camera for short-range object inspection in murky waters
Underwater object inspection by optical sensors is usually unreliable in turbid or dark
environments. Here, we designed a biomimetic ‘electric camera’, inspired by weakly electric fish
Gnathonemus petersii , which successfully use active electrolocation for this task. The device
probed nearby objects with a weak electric field and captured ‘electric images’ of the targets by
processing the object-evoked field modulations. The camera-based electric images strongly resembled
those available to G. petersii . Furthermore, by extracting the fish ’s analytical cues from these
images, close objects could be reliab...
Source: Bioinspiration and Biomimetics - April 6, 2019 Category: Science Authors: Martin Gottwald, Hendrik Herzog and Gerhard von der Emde Source Type: research
Musculoskeletal design, control, and application of human mimetic humanoid Kenshiro
We have been developing a human mimetic musculoskeletal humanoid called Kenshiro, whose design
concept is to thoroughly pursue an unprecedented anatomical fidelity to the human musculoskeletal
structure. We believe that research on human mimetic musculoskeletal humanoids advances our
understanding of humans and expands the applications of humanoids —such as a human body simulator
that can quantitatively analyze internal human motion data. This paper describes Kenshiro ’s
musculoskeletal body characteristics, software system, and preliminary experiments explaining the
concept of potential application. (Source: Bio...
Source: Bioinspiration and Biomimetics - April 6, 2019 Category: Science Authors: Yuki Asano, Kei Okada and Masayuki Inaba Source Type: research
Random sequential addition simulations of animal aggregations provide null models of group structure
Apparent structure in animal aggregations such as fish and Antarctic krill schools may result from
the tight packing of these elongated animals. This geometrical structure may be difficult to
differentiate from behavior-induced structure resulting from individuals preferentially taking up
certain positions relative to conspecifics to gain an adaptive advantage such as reduced locomotive
cost. Here we use random sequential addition (RSA) simulations to quantify the effect of animal
shape, aggregation organization, and aggregation density on 2D school structure. This technique
allows for the generation of a null model ...
Source: Bioinspiration and Biomimetics - April 6, 2019 Category: Science Authors: Daniel Olsen and David W Murphy Source Type: research
Form-function relationship in artificial lateral lines
We examined the form-function relationship of laboratory-constructed artificial lateral line canals.
These biomimetic flow sensors consisted of a transparent silicone bar located inside a fluid filled
canal equipped with canal pores. The silicone bar guided the light from a LED towards a position-
sensitive photodiode. Fluid motion inside the canal deflected the silicone bar which was detected by
the photodiode. We found that the resonance frequency of the silicone bar determined the resonance
frequency of the artificial lateral line (frequency at which the sensor was most sensitive). The
thickness and length of the ...
Source: Bioinspiration and Biomimetics - January 4, 2019 Category: Science Authors: Felix Kaldenbach, Adrian Klein and Horst Bleckmann Source Type: research
Strength, elasticity and the limits of energy dissipation in two related sea urchin spines with
biomimetic potential
The calcitic spines of the sea urchins Heterocentrotus mamillatus and H. trigonarius are promising
role models for lightweight applications, bone tissue scaffolds and energy dissipating processes due
to their highly porous and organized structure. Therefore, mechanical properties including Young ’s
Modulus, strength, failure behaviour and energy dissipation efficiency have been investigated in
depth with uniaxial compression experiments, 3-point bending tests and resonance frequency damping
analysis. It was found that despite a very similar structure, H. trigonarius has a significantly
lower porosity than H. mamill...
Source: Bioinspiration and Biomimetics - December 19, 2018 Category: Science Authors: Christoph Lauer, Kilian Sillmann, Sebastian Hau ßmann and Klaus G Nickel Source Type: research
Analog control with two Artificial Axons
We present the result in the form of the
analysis of a movie of the car approaching the light source. In general terms, with this work we
pursue a constructivist approach to exploring the nexus between machine language at the nerve cell
level and behavior. (Source: Bioinspiration and Biomimetics)
Source: Bioinspiration and Biomimetics - December 18, 2018 Category: Science Authors: Hector G Vasquez and Giovanni Zocchi Source Type: research
Resolution improvement of dipole source localization for artificial lateral lines based on multiple
signal classification
The lateral line is a critical mechanosensory organ that enables fish to perceive the surroundings
accurately and rapidly. Massive efforts have been made to build an artificial lateral line system
rivaling that of fish for underwater vehicles. Dipole source localization has become a standard
problem for evaluating the sensing capabilities of the developed systems. In this paper we propose,
for the first time, the multiple signal classification (MUSIC) method in order to achieve
high-resolution dipole source localization based on spatial spectrum estimation. We also present the
minimum variance distortionless response...
Source: Bioinspiration and Biomimetics - December 18, 2018 Category: Science Authors: Mingjiang Ji, Yong Zhang, Xiande Zheng, Xin Lin, Guanjun Liu and Jing Qiu Source Type: research
Maneuvering and stabilization control of a bipedal robot with a universal-spatial robotic tail
This paper analyzes control methodologies to implement maneuvering and stabilization behaviors in a
bipedal robot using a bioinspired robotic tail. Looking to nature, numerous animals augment their
legs ’ functionality using a tail nature, numerous animals augment their legs’ functionality using a
tail to assist with both maneuvering and stabilization; looking to the robotics literature, previous
research primarily focuses on single-mass, pendulum-like tails designed to perform a specific task.
The overarching goal of this research is to study how bioinspired tail designs may be used in
conjunction with low-compl...
Source: Bioinspiration and Biomimetics - December 7, 2018 Category: Science Authors: William S Rone, Yujiong Liu and Pinhas Ben-Tzvi Source Type: research
Development and flight performance of a biologically-inspired tailless flapping-wing micro air
vehicle with wing stroke plane modulation
The tailless flapping-wing micro air vehicle (FW-MAV) is one of the most challenging problems in
flapping-wing design due to its lack of tail for inherent flight stability. It must be designed in
such a way that it can produce proper augmented control moments modulated by a closed-loop attitude
controller for active stabilization. We propose a tailless FW-MAV with a wing stroke plane
modulation mechanism, namely NUS-Roboticbird, which maneuvers by only using its flapping wings for
both propulsion and attitude control. The flying vehicle has four wings comprised by two pairs, and
each pair of wings and its stroke plan...
Source: Bioinspiration and Biomimetics - December 7, 2018 Category: Science Authors: Quoc-Viet Nguyen and Woei Leong Chan Source Type: research
Numerical investigation of low-noise airfoils inspired by the down coat of owls
Numerical analysis of airfoil geometries inspired by the down coat of the night owl is presented.
The bioinspired geometry consists of an array of ‘finlet fences’, which is placed near the trailing
edge of the baseline (NACA 0012) airfoil. Two fences with maximum nondimensional heights, ##IMG##
[http://ej.iop.org/images/1748-3190/14/1/016013/bbaaf19cieqn001.gif] and ##IMG##
[http://ej.iop.org/images/1748-3190/14/1/016013/bbaaf19cieqn002.gif] are investigated, where ##IMG##
[http://ej.iop.org/images/1748-3190/14/1/016013/bbaaf19cieqn003.gif] is the displacement thickness
at 2.9% chord upstream of the airfoil trail...
Source: Bioinspiration and Biomimetics - December 7, 2018 Category: Science Authors: Andrew Bodling and Anupam Sharma Source Type: research
On the biological mechanics and energetics of the hip joint muscle –tendon system assisted by passive
hip exoskeleton
Passive exoskeletons have potential advantages in reducing metabolic energy cost. We consider a
passive elastic exoskeleton (peEXO) providing hip flexion moment to assist hip flexors during
walking, our goal is to use a biomechanical model to explore the biological mechanics and energetics
of the hip joint muscle –tendon–exotendon system for obtaining the optimum stiffness of this peEXO at
the muscle-level. Based on our developed hip musculoskeletal model capable of replicating human-like
behaviors, the hip peEXO is firstly abstracted as a spring (i.e. exotendon), we then simulate the
peEXO assisted human walking...
Source: Bioinspiration and Biomimetics - December 4, 2018 Category: Science Authors: Wenbin Chen, Shuang Wu, Tiancheng Zhou and Caihua Xiong Source Type: research
Influence of complex driving motion on propulsion performance of a heaving flexible foil
This study explores the effects of complex driving motion on the propulsion performance of a
flexible foil heaving in the flight regimes of natural flyers. Such a fluid-structure interaction
problem is numerically studied using an immersed boundary lattice Boltzmann method (IBLBM) based
numerical framework. It is found that, at the Reynolds number 200 and when the foil ’s bending
stiffness and mass ratio are moderate, adding an extra driving motion of doubled frequency to a
purely harmonic motion on the foil ’s leading edge can enhance the thrust and propulsive efficiency
by about 860% and 70%, respectively. The ...
Source: Bioinspiration and Biomimetics - December 4, 2018 Category: Science Authors: Chenglei Wang and Hui Tang Source Type: research
Experimental trajectory optimization of a flapping fin propulsor using an evolutionary strategy
The experimental optimization of bio-inspired flapping fin trajectories are demonstrated for
potential applications as a side or a rear propulsor of an autonomous underwater vehicle. The
trajectories are scored based upon their difference from a force set-point and upon their efficiency
and are parameterized by 10 variables inspired by fish swimming. The flapping fin is a generic
rectangular rigid flat plate with a tapered edge. Optimization occurs as follows. First, a
generation of trajectories is created. Second, the trajectories are executed by a spherical parallel
manipulator, during which the forces are acquired...
Source: Bioinspiration and Biomimetics - November 29, 2018 Category: Science Authors: Nathan Martin and Morteza Gharib Source Type: research
