There is increasing observational evidence indicating that crystalline interfacial water layers play a central role in evolution and biology. For instance in cellular recognition processes, in particular during first contact events, where cells decide upon survival or entering apoptosis. Understanding water layers is thus crucial in biomedical engineering, specifically in the design of biomaterials inspired by biomimetic principles. Whereas there is ample experimental evidence for crystalline interfacial water layers on surfaces in air, their subaquatic presence could not be verified directly, so far. Analysing a polarity dependent asym-metry in the surface conductivity on hydrogenated nanocrystalline diamond, we show that crystalline interfacial water layers persist subaquatically. Nanoscopic interfacial water layers with an order different from that of bulk water have been identified at room temperature on both hydrophilic and hydrophobic model surfaces – in air and subaquatically. Their generalization and systematic inclusion into the catalogue of physical and chemical determinants of biocompatibility complete the biomimetic triangle.

In this paper, a carangiform robotic fish with 4-DoF (degree of freedom) tail has been developed. The robotic fish has capability of swimming under two modes that are radio control and autonomous swimming. Experiments were conducted to investigate the influences of characteristic parameters including the frequency, the amplitude, the wave length, the phase difference and the coefficient on forward velocity. The experimental results shown that the swimming performance of the robotic fish is affected mostly by the characteristic parameters observed.

We present a mathematical method for acceleration workspace analysis of cooperating multi-finger robot systems uing a model of point-contact with friction. A new unified formulation from dynamic equations of cooperating multi-finger robots is derived considering the force and acceleration relationships between the fingers and the object to be handled. From the dynamic equation, maximum translational and rotational acceleration bounds of an object are calculated under given constraints of contact conditions, configurations of fingers, and bounds on the torques of joint actuators for each finger. Here, the rotational acceleration bounds can be applied as an important manipulability index when the multi-finger robot grasps an object. To verify the proposed method, we used a set of case studies with a simple multi-finger mechanism system. The achievable acceleration boundary in task space can be obtained successfully with the proposed method and the acceleration boundary depends on the configurations of fingers.

A clonal selection based memetic algorithm is proposed for solving job shop scheduling problems in this paper. In the proposed algorithm, the clonal selection and the local search mechanism are designed to enhance exploration and exploitation. In the clonal selection mechanism, clonal selection, hypermutation and receptor edit theories are presented to construct an evolutionary searching mechanism which is used for exploration. In the local search mechanism, a simulated annealing local search algorithm based on Nowicki and Smutnicki’s neighborhood is presented to exploit local optima. The proposed algorithm is examined using some well-known benchmark problems. Numerical results validate the effectiveness of the proposed algo-rithm.

Water striders are insects living on the water surface, over which they can move very quickly and rarely get wetted. We measured the force of free walking in water striders, using a hair attached to their backs and a 3D strain gauge. The error was calculated by comparing force and data derived from geometry and was estimated as 13%. Females on average were stronger (1.32 mN) than males (0.87 mN), however, the ratio of force to weight was not significantly different. Comparedwith other lighter species, Aquarius paludum seems stronger, but the ratio of force to weight is actually lower. A. paludum applies about 0.3 mN•cm⁻¹ to 0.4 mN•cm⁻¹with its mid-legs, thus avoiding penetrating the surface tension layer while propelling itself rapidly over the water surface. We also investigated the external morphology with SEM. The body is covered by effectively two layers of macro-and micro-hairs, which renders them hydrophobic. The setae are long (40 µm–60 µm) and stiff, being responsible for waterproofing, and the microtrichia are much smaller (<10 µm), slender, and flexible, holding a bubble over the body when submerged.

The contact angles of distilled water and methanol solution on the wings of butterflies were determined by a visual contact angle measuring system. The scale structures of the wings were observed using scanning electron microscopy, The influence of the scale micro- and ultra-structure on the wettability was investigated. Results show that the contact angle of distilled water on the wing surfaces varies from 134.0˚ to 159.2˚;. High hydrophobicity is found in six species with contact angles greater than 150˚;. The wing surfaces of some species are not only hydrophobic but also resist the wetting by methanol solution with 55% concentration. Only two species in Parnassius can not resist the wetting because the micro-structure (spindle-like shape) and ultra-structure (pinnule-like shape) of the wing scales are remarkably different from that of other species. The concentration of methanol solution for the occurrence of spreading/wetting on the wing surfaces of different species varies from 70% to 95%. After wetting by methanol solution for 10 min, the distilled water contact angle on the wing surface increases by 0.8˚–2.1˚;, showing the promotion of capacity against wetting by distilled water.

This paper presents the design, fabrication, and experimental characterization of a peristaltic micropump. The micropump is composed of two layers fabricated from Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) material. The first layer has a rectangular channel and two valve seals. Three rectangular mini lightweight piezo-composite actuators are integrated in the second layer, and used as actuation parts. Two layers are bonded, and covered by two Polymethyl Methacrylate (PMMA) plates, which help increase the stiffness of the micropump. A maximum flow rate of 900 mL•min⁻¹and a maximum backpressure of 1.8 kPa are recorded when water is used as pump liquid. We measured the power consumption of the micropump. The micropump is found to be a prom-ising candidate for bio-medical application due to its bio-compatibility, portability, bidirectionality, and simple effective design.

Magnetic force transmission of a reciprocating motion is studied by theoretical analysis and experiment. A mathematical model for calculating the magnetic force is derived using the theory of equivalent magnetic charges. An experimental rig is constructed to test the transmission and the model is verified by experiment. Effect of the transmission parameters on the magnetic force is analyzed theoretically from the model, and characteristic of the transmission is studied experimentally. Since the transmission is without direct contact between two elements, it is suitable for application in an organism.

Using eucollagen solutions from ox hide, we cast collagen films to assess the influence of calcium and silica on the re-constitution of the fibrous structure of collagen. The tensile strength and the breaking elongation of the reconstituted collagen films were measured and analysed. Significant differences were observed between reconstituted collagen films with and without calcium and silica. The breaking elongation of the films obtained in the presence of silica was significantly greater, and the degradation was lower than other films of reconstituted collagen. Collagen and chitosan do not exist together as blends in nature, but the specific properties of each may be used to produce in biomimetic way man-made blends with biomedical applications, that confer unique structural, mechanical (detail) and in-vivo properties.

The disadvantages caused by the swing of a fish body were analyzed. The coordinate system of a two-joint robot fish was built. The hydrodynamic analysis of robot fish was developed. The dynamic simulation of a two-joint robot fish was carried out with the ADAMS software. The relationship between the swing of fish body and the mass distribution of robot fish, the rela-tionship between the swing of fish body and the swing frequency of tail, were gained. The impact of the swing of fish body on the kinematic parameters of tail fin was analyzed. Three methods to restrain the swing of fish body were presented and dis-cussed.

Many animals and plants have high potential to serve as concept generators for developing biomimetic materials and structures. We present some ideas based on structural and functional properties of plants and animals that led to the development of two types of biomimetic cable entry systems. Those systems have been realized on the level of functional demonstrators.