1 Issue 2 2015 1Issue 2 2015

ISBE Newsletter Sponsored by the International Society

of Bionic Engineering (ISBE)

Editor in ChiefLuquan Ren

Associate Editors in ChiefJianqiao Li

Runmao Wang

Assistant Editor in ChiefXimei Tian

Executive EditorYue Gao

Office of Secretariat, ISBE Director: Runmao Wang

Assistants: Ximei Tian, Yue Gao

Address:1202 Administrative Building,

Jilin University, 2699 Qianjin Street,

Changchun 130012, P. R. China

Tel: +86-431-85166507

Fax: +86-431-85166507

E-mail: secretariat@isbe-online.org

office@isbe-online.org

Website: http://www.isbe-online.org/

Published twice a year by the office of

Secretariat, ISBE

December 2015NEWSLETTERISBE

CONTENTSMEMBERSHIP 2 1. Marc Weissburg2. Zhendong Dai

NEWS AND EVENTS 71. IWBE 20152. Biomimetics Workshop 20153. Sino-German Symposium on Biomimetics 4. The 5th Meeting & International Workshop of BioApproNFS-Wett 5. Bionic Digital Library6. 3M-NANO7. Innovation Competition

ACADEMICS 111. Some ideas to chew over2. Design of LARMbot, a new Humanoid with Parallel Mechanisms3. Hovering Insect-Inspired FlappingWing Micro Air Vehicles4. New Adjustable Biomimetic Hemi-pelvis Prosthesis for Pelvic Reconstruction5. Bionics has a distinct unique approach

UPCOMING ACTIVITIES 181. ICBE’162. CIMTEC 2016 3. Welcome to Living Machines 20164. ICAIRBM 2016

Vol.4·Issue 2·December 2015

NewsletterInternational Society of Bionic Engineering

ISBE

2 Issue 2 2015 3Issue 2 2015

Dr. Marc Weissburg is a Professor of

Biology, and the co-director and founding

member of the Center for Biologically

Inspired Design at Georgia Institute of Technology.

An ecologist by training, he’s become an accidental

bio-inspired designer through his interests in using

engineering techniques as ways to investigate

biological phenomena. Although this continues to

be an important research area, he became confused

somewhere and started to use his biological

knowledge in to address human challenges.

Alarmingly for him, a number of his colleagues have

called him an engineer because he likes to solve

problems! This kind of mixing of role and identity is

one of the more interesting and compelling features

of biologically inspired design in his view, and one of

the chief reasons why he sticks with it, despite this

meaning he’s always poking his nose into things that

are not part of his formal training.

Dr. Weissburg began collaborating with engineers

Members

ISBE is made up of 800 Individual Members coming from 51 different countries and regions and 6

continents of the world. There are two classes of Members: Individual Member and Corporate Member.

The International Society of Bionic Engineering (ISBE) is an educational, non-profit, non-political

organization formed in 2010 to foster the exchange of information on bionic engineering research,

development and application.

ISBE membership is open to those who have manifested a continuous interest in any discipline important

to bionic engineering research as evidenced by work in the field, original contributions and attendance at

meetings concerning bionic engineering research.

GROWTH CHART OF THE MEMBERSHIP

MEMBERSHIP DISTRIBUTION

ISBE Newsletter Members

Marc Weissburg (USA) Board of Directors & Fellow of the ISBE

to understand animal navigation by means of

chemical signals distributed by flow. Identifying the

strategies animals use to navigate through turbulent

chemical plumes is impossible without knowing

the spatial and temporal distribution of the signal

molecules. This requirement led Dr. Weissburg into

collaborating with experts in fluid mechanics who

together developed a real time system for large scale

simultaneous 3D visualization of navigating animals

and chemical signal distribution. By understanding

the algorithms animals use to find chemical sources,

Dr. Weissburg and his colleagues were able to

implement hypothesized rules in autonomous

Page et al., 2010 JEB

“Tell me your secrets, little crab!”

Implementation

800

4 Issue 2 2015 5Issue 2 2015

trackers. For a biologist this allowed a powerful test

about what animals might be doing that cannot be

obtained by working only with the organism. For

others this has led to the development of biologically-

based rules for autonomous navigation in turbulent

chemical plumes.with ISBE to promote bio-inspired

design as a practical, rigorous and innovative field of

inquiry.

Dr. Weissburg’s interest in ecology led him to

wonder whether ecological systems might provide

useful principles for solving human challenges. A

fortuitous meeting with engineers interested in

sustainable systems provided an opportunity to work

on this problem. Over the past 5 years Dr. Weissburg

and his engineering colleagues have examined how

ecological network analysis (ENA) can be used to

design more sustainable infrastructure and industrial

systems. ENA is a set of tools ecologists use to

examine material and energy flow in food webs, but

which can easily be applied to human systems that

transfer material and energy among components. This

necessitates an important change of view of human

systems as ecosystems with the same functional

Members

Dr. Zhendong Dai is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering, and the

director and founder of the Institute of Bio-inspired Structure and Surface

Engineering (IBSS) at Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics

(NUAA). As a tribologist, he has set a theory of tribo-irreversible thermo dynamics

and use the idea to understand coupling interaction among various factors, which

possess different physical dimensions and to model the system by ENTROPY. In

2000, he jointed Grob’s biological group in Institute of Development Biology, Max-

Plank-Institute, Tuebingen, Germany, where he learned the language of biology,

and got feeling that what engineers can do for biology. He started to design the

3D sensors at that time and ask his friends to develop them even he was still in

Germany. He came back China, set up the institute and started the hard pioneering

days by crowded in a very small room with few followers. He also served as the Chair

of the 4th International Conference of Bionic Engineering (ICBE’13).

By alluring Prof. Sun from Beijing University and collaborated cordially, Dai and

his group were trained biological knowledge and learn to speak with biologist. He

always feels not ashamed to learn from biologist and is willing to devote his energy

in supporting the researches from biology. He and Sun drawn a schedule for IBSS,

and closely worked together in finding a way to simulate animals locomotion, esp.

gecko and pigeon, and by this way to understand how brain work during locomotion

and how biological robot can be set up.

He was acutely aware the importance of reaction force in clearly understanding

the locomotion, developed 3D force sensors and set up a facility to measure the 3D

Zhendong DaiBoard of Directors of the ISBE

requirements and has helped

define a new perspective:

“Infrastructure Ecology”.

This work has shown that

despite decades of work on

“Industrial Ecology”, human

systems are not organized

like their natural analogs,

which diminished their

capacity to cycle material

and energy. The problem

is organizational rather than technological. This

work has led to a series of “design rules” that

provide guidance for those wishing to build

sustainable and resilient human industrial

systems and infrastructure. Dr. Weissburg and

colleagues are working with a variety of entities

and companies (including US cities, BMW, Anshan

Steel) that apply these techniques to reduce waste

and create more cyclic systems.Dr. Weissburg’s

latest activity is the development of bio-inspired

design methodology. The practice of bio-inspired

design as a formal activity is new, and there is a

need to define essential knowledge and develop

a rigorous practice that can be taught to others.

He has held several educational grants to develop

interdisciplinary bio-inspired design curricula,

works with high school and professional groups,

and has numerous papers on effective teaching.

He is proud to work with the ISBE to promote

bio-inspired design as a practical, rigorous and

innovative field of inquiry.

Both food webs and industrial webs represent exchanges in material and energy and may described using ENA

ISBE Secretariat is always calling for news and ideas among our members, if there is any information you would like to include in the future edition of newsletter, please feel free to contact us.

Email: secretariat@isbe-online.org; office@isbe-online.org

Tel/ Fax: +86-431-85166507

Address: 1202 Administrative Building, Jilin University, 2699 Qianjin Street, Changchun P. R. China

WRITE TO US

Send an email to ISBE Secretariat

ISBE Newsletter

6 Issue 2 2015 7Issue 2 2015

News and Events

ISBE Newsletter News and Events

reaction force and to observe the motion behaviors simultaneously. He and his

group find different of reaction force pattern when gecko moving on floor, wall,

ceiling and even various inclined surfaces, which greatly inspired the design

of gecko-mimicking robots. The technology also be used for understanding

the role of forelimb of frog during jumping, the behavior of a locust when the

slope changes. At the same time, the adhesive mechanism and the detaching

technique used by the gecko were subtly investigated; the adhesive structures

mimicking setae were developed by self-growing carbon nanotube array

technology, gecko-mimicking adhesive elements and the robot were developed

for the applications in space and vacuum.

Inspired by feather and bone, he and his group developed multi-function

light-weight foamed metal materials. To meet the requirement of applications,

such as light-weight load-carrying materials, heat-transferring, high-

performance lead cell, electromagnetic shielding, many scientific questions

and key techniques were studied.

This work by him and his group are well received by scientific and industrial

societies. Thus he has been appointed as a board member of various journals

and a standing member of various academic societies. He has received grants

for a number of important projects, including two NSFC key projects and

key international projects. He has authored 6 books and more than 300 peer

reviewed papers.

His research interests include biomimetic gecko robot, locomotion

dynamics and artificial adhesives; lightweight structures and materials -bio-

inspired lightweight structures, multifunctional foamed metals, tribology.

Sino-USA Frontier of engineering, organized by academy of USA and China

2015 International Workshop on

Bionic Engineering

The 2015 International Workshop on Bionic

Engineering (IWBE 2015) was held in Beijing

on October 14-16, 2015. It was organized by

the International Society of Bionic Engineering (ISBE),

and sponsored by Beihang and Jilin Universities. The

workshop also got support from the National Natural

Science Foundation of China. This workshop aims

to provide an international forum for scientists and

engineers around the world, working in the field of

bionic engineering, to present and share their ideas and

latest work. The theme of IWBE 2015 was "The Progress

and new Challenges of Bionic Functional Structures

and Surfaces".

More than 100 representatives from UK, US, Spain,

Austria, New Zealand, Korea, Japan among others were

invited to workshop. ISBE President Professor Julian

Vincent from the University of Oxford (UK), General

Secretary Jianqiao Li from Jilin University, other

members including Marc Weissburg from Georgia

Institute of Technology (USA), Friedrich G. Barth

from University of Vienna (Austria), Zhendong

Dai from Nanjing University of Aeronautics and

Astronautics (China), Zhiwu HAN from Jilin

University (China) among others gave papers.

Twenty-five invited reports were presented in two

days, the topics covered bionic surface, bionic

intelligence system, bionic synthesis, biomaterials,

fluid bionics, motion bionics and so on.

This workshop provided a favorable

opportunity for the exchange of bionic engineering

research achievements, and offered a platform for

representatives to communicate and cooperate

with each other. It played a positive role to promote

the development of bionics at an international and

interdisciplinary level.

8 Issue 2 2015 9Issue 2 2015

Biomimetic Workshop 2015

Biomimetics Workshop 2015 - Optimisation and “trade-off’ in Biomimetics - was successfully held

in Jilin University, China, on October 10-11, 2015. The workshop was organized by the

International Society of Bionic Engineering (ISBE) and sponsored by Jilin

University.

The workshop was presented by Prof. Julian F.V. Vincent Oxford University who

is a distinguished professor in Bionics and the President of ISBE. Nearly 40 scholars

and postgraduates attended the workshop, respectively from Chonnam National

University (South Korea),

Tsinghua University (China) etc.

During the two day workshop, the

innovative teaching methods included

specialist tutelage, classroom interaction, practical

experience, and group presentations.

This workshop not only provided good opportunities

for attendees to learn some basic methods and skills of

biomimetics but also established a platform for academic

exchange and communication. It was a memorable

event, popularizing bionic science and technology, spreading its ideas, methods and spirit, and accelerating

the pace of academic research and development.

The 2015 International Bionic Engineering,

Refrigeration and Heat Transfer Workshop &

the 5th BioApproNFS-Wett Meeting was held on

13-14 August 2015 in Dalian China.

The workshop and the meeting were organised by the

European Research Network of BioApproNFS-Wett (ref.

295224) and hosted by the Dalian Maritime University

(China). It marked a significant collaboration between

the members of the university network and members

of the International of Society of Bionic Engineering

(ISBE).

Nearly 30 representatives from the UK, Germany, Portugal, Thailand, and China attended the workshop

and meeting. Professor Yuying Yan from the University of Nottingham (UK), the coordinator of the EU

network and Deputy General Secretary of the ISBE, chaired the meeting and the workshop. ISBE Vice

President Dr. Thomas Stegmaier from ITV Denkendorf (Germany), ISBE General Secretary Jianqiao Li

from Jilin University, and some other members including Dr. Ana Moita from the Instituto Superior Tecnico

(Portugal), Prof. Xun Chen from Liverpool John Moores University (UK) and Prof. Zhiwu Han from Jilin

University (China) attended the meeting and gave reports at both the meeting and the workshop.

The workshop topics focused on recent research and the development of bionic functional surfaces and

fluid coupling, as well as energy efficiency. The workshop, which was a memorable event popularizing bionic

engineering, refrigeration, heat transfer, also played an important role in promoting communication and

collaboration between academic researchers from the members of the EU network and the ISBE.

News and Events

Sino-German Symposium on Biomimetics, Munich, Germany 2015: From Animal Sensory

Systems to Locomotion

Sino-German Symposium on Biomimetics (From Animal Sensory

Systems to Locomotion) was held from June 29th to July 2nd,

2015 in Munich, Germany. The symposium was funded by the Sino

German Science Center, and co-organized by the International Society of

Bionic Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Technical University of

Munich, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Chengdu

Institute of Biology.

The Symposium focused on the exchange of recent bionic academic research results and developments

in the understanding of animal perception, locomotion, neuronal control, and the underlying biological

substrates (including materials).

Nearly 50 outstanding researchers were invited to this symposium. Zhendong Dai, Zhiwu Han, Friedrich

G. Barth, Board of Directors of the ISBE; Wenjian Wu, Fellow of the ISBE; Runmao Wang, Director of the

Office of Secretariat, ISBE and some other members of the society were invited to attend the meeting and

present their reports.

The success of the symposium has positively influenced the potential cooperative research in relevant

fields, and will promote cooperation between China and Germany in the field of biomimetics.

ISBE Newsletter

The Bionic Digital Library of the ISBE was launched

on Nov. 10th, 2015. It is linked to the official website

of the Society and can be accessed via http://isbe-

online.org/information.

The Library offers information about Institutes, Journals,

Papers, Patents, Books, Organizations, Corporations, and

Networks. The ISBE Proceedings are also provided at the

Library. Currently, there are 25,529 papers, 6454 patents, 377

institutes from 39 countries and regions listed. The number of

books, journals, and other information is nearly 100.

The ISBE welcomes submission of data to the Library.

Please send information to the secretariat at office@isbe-

online.org.

Welcome to visit the Bionic Digital Library

10 Issue 2 2015 11Issue 2 2015

Academics

Invited by Prof. Yanling Tian from Tianjin

University, Prof. Hongwei Zhao and Doctor

Jianping Li who are members of the ISBE attended

the 5th International Conference on Manipulation,

Manufacturing and Measurement on the Nanoscale

(3M-NANO). 3M-NANO is an annual International

Conference on Manipulation, Manufacturing and

Measurement on the Nanoscale; this year it was held on

5-9 October 2015 in Changchun, China. Prof. Hongwei

Zhao was invited as the chair of one special session and

Dr Jianping Li gave an excellent presentation on bionic inchworm-type piezoelectric actuators.

Inspired by the real inchworm in the nature, Jianping Li presented one inchworm-type piezoelectric

actuators which can get millimeter-scale rotary stroke. This actuator could overcome the significant

disadvantage of piezoelectric actuators on limited working stoke which is always on the micrometer scale.

In addition, Jianping Li developed a rotor with a bionic non-smooth surface which improves three-fold the

performance of inchworm-type piezoelectric actuators. This work on bionic piezoelectric actuators was well

praised and discussed by researchers all over the world.

The 5th International Conference on Manipulation, Manufacturing

and Measurement on the Nanoscale (3M-NANO)

The first Graduate Student Innovation

Competition, organized by the Key Laboratory of

Bionic Engineering, Ministry of Education, Jilin

University, was held in October, 2015. This competition

brings together students in different research fields

of bionics and bionic engineering and gives them the

opportunity to showcase their innovative ideas. The

competition awarded 3 first prizes, 5 second prizes, 10

third prizes, and 31 prizes for excellence.

The Innovation Competition program provides an

opportunity for graduate students to seek particularly

innovative technological ideas. Its aim is to stimulate

interest in scientific innovation and to encourage

students to develop new techniques, new designs, new

research methods, and new applications, in the areas of

bionics and bionic engineering sciences.

The 1st Graduate Student Innovation Competition

ISBE Newsletter

Academics

When it comes to understanding the mechanical properties of foods – and especially the fracture

properties – food scientists find a basic problem. The understanding of materials has in large

part been driven by engineers wishing to develop and understand structural materials, which

are designed to be durable and (mostly) capable of supporting significant loads. This is not true of food

materials, whose destination is the mouth. The loads, stresses

and displacements here are very different from the engineering

environment, so the mechanical and fracture properties will

be different, too. Also there are quality attributes to food

that are not relevant to engineering, which have to do with

the assessment of the chemical safety of the food (e.g. “is it

rotted and therefore potentially poisonous?”). Food materials

are also very much more complex than most engineering

materials. They are composite, being made from complex

polymers (proteins and polysaccharides) that appear as both

matrix and fibre. They are also hierarchical; for instance

the fibres are themselves are commonly made of fibrils in a

matrix. These considerations often leave the food scientist

at a disadvantage, since there is very little data with which to

compare the properties and structures of food materials. An

example from fracture mechanics: potato crisps (=’chips’) have

a stress intensity factor of about 4 MPa.m0.5 which is about

the same as an engineering ceramic, and a work of fracture of

about 45 J.m2, which is far higher than a technical ceramic [1].

This apparent imbalance of properties becomes quite logical

when we realise that potato crisps are cellular and therefore

of low stiffness for a glassy material, using the nominal cross-

section area for calculating stress. There are currently no

cellular glassy technical ceramics since there is no demand for an engineering material with the mechanical

and fracture properties of a potato crisp! The message therefore is that the exploration of the mechanical

properties of foods may be as much an adventure for the materials scientist as for the food scientist.

Chewing food involves fracture and plastic flow, breaking the food material and incorporating water and

Some ideas to chew overJulian Vincent, University of Oxford, UK

Figure 1 – A piece of food being bitten with Mode I fracture (crack opening), which is the way that your front teeth (incisors) work.

Figure 2 – Force exerted on the handles of a pair of scissors cutting through two soft foods (caterpillar and beef, using sharp scissors) and a hard but brittle food (beetle, which did best with blunt scissors). From [2].

12 Issue 2 2015 13Issue 2 2015

ISBE Newsletter Academics

salivary enzymes into it. This involves work, which is limited by the capacity of the jaw muscles. In most

instances these muscles are adequate, being some of the most powerful muscles in the body. However, the

jaw can exert only a small amount of displacement so that a compliant food, if it cannot be strained to failure,

will register as unbreakable or ‘tough’ even though there is sufficient force available.

Man probably evolved as an eater of nuts and fruit. Australopithecus boisei, an early hominid, was given

the nickname “Nutcracker Man” on account of his bulky dentition, though he was by no means unique in

this respect. But his jaw geometry was pretty much the same as ours, so one can reasonably suppose that

foods which modern man will eat ‘raw’ could have constituted a primitive diet. Such a primitive diet would

include nuts, fruits, tubers, leaves and shoots, all of which are crisp or brittle. The flesh of fish comes under

this heading, since their muscle fibres are short and they have little connective tissue (based on fibrous

collagen) holding them together. However, many materials that we feed on fall outside this range, since they

have evolved to be durable parts of an animal or plant. To be chewable, food has to come within a range of

properties with which the mouth can cope, and this is achieved by cooking, which denatures and stiffens the

proteins, forcing water out of the structure. Some of the protein (collagen, for example) is melted and carried

away by the water to become gravy. Dimensions of the food must be somewhere between 1 mm and 2-5 cm.

Cooked meat is generally tougher and stronger than raw meat but breaks at lower displacements. Teeth

direct the forces; more especially the incisors function in Mode I (crack opening – Figure 1) and can cope

with non-fibrous brittle foods, and the carnassial teeth at the side of the mouth of the carnivore (dogs, cats)

function in Mode III to cope with fibrous foods that have low notch sensitivity. Recent comment on the teeth

of a fossil bat suggested that its pointed teeth indicated that it fed on hard-bodied animals such as beetles.

Not so. Pointed teeth indicate a diet of softer bodies that need to be punctured [2]. To eat a beetle all you need

to do is exert enough force for a crack to start somewhere in its shell, and then allow the crack to propagate

where it will (Figure 2). The strain energy stored in the jaw muscles will power the crack along.

1. Rojo, F.J., and Vincent, J.F.V. (2008). Fracture properties of potato crisps. International Journal of

Food Science & Technology 43, 752-760.

2. Strait, S.G., and Vincent, J.F.V. (1998). Primate faunivores: physical properties of prey items.

International Journal of Primatology 19, 867-878.

Design of LARMbot, a New Humanoid with Parallel Mechanisms

Marco Ceccarelli, LARM, University of Cassino and South Latium, Italy

Human anatomy can be modeled with skeleton structures that are actuated by muscles acting in parallel

as parallel manipulators. With such a biomimetic inspiration a humanoid robot can be designed

with a kinematic structure made of several parallel manipulator mechanisms with different design

solutions as depending of the body parts they will mimic in functionality and volume. At LARM in Cassino,

Italy, a new humanoid robot, named as LARMbot, is under development with a first prototype built as based

on the above conceptual biomimetic inspiration and with low-cost reduced-complexity features. The leg

system is made of two parallel leg mechanisms that are composed of a waist platform, a turning mechanism

located on the waist platform, two foot platforms, and two set of three linear actuators assembled with parallel

architectures interconnecting the upper platform and lower platform in an equilateral triangle arrangement.

The structure of the torso consists of 4 disc bodies that replicate the function of the vertebrae in the human

spine and an actuating system of cables in a parallel architecture. The vertebrae are interconnected with each

other by means of flexible couplings that behaves as spherical spring joints allowing the relative rotation in

passive motion. The trunk is fixed on the spine through a vertebral disc. The spine is also connected to the

abdomen using another vertebral disk. The pelvis is connected to the abdomen and houses 5 actuators 4 of

which allows the 3 d.o.f.s of the humanoid spine. The four cables are fixed to the platform through the trunk,

they pass through the holes of the other vertebral discs reaching the actuators on which are fixed. The cables

are pulled by the actuators and act antagonistically as a cable parallel manipulator to produce motion of the

humanoid spine that can bend right, left, forward and backward where as a circular motion can be performed

thanks to the combination of the two above-mentioned movements. At the moment the arms are designed

with a traditional serial architecture likewise the neck mechanism.

Fig.1 LARMbot Humanoid design at LARM in Cassino, Italy: a) the human modeling; b) a mechanical design; c) a first prototype

Recent main references on design developments

M. Ceccarelli, D. Cafolla, Artificial torso for humanoid robot, patent request no. 102015000032902, 2015,

Italy

M. Ceccarelli, M. Wang, Biped locomotor with parallel leg mechanisms, patent request no. 102015000056450,

2015, Italy

M. F. Wang, M. Ceccarelli, and G. Carbone, Experimental tests on operation performance of a LARM leg

mechanism with 3-DOF parallel architecture, Mechanical Science Open Access, 6, 1–8, 2015; doi:10.5194/

ms-6-1-2015

M. F. Wang, M. Ceccarelli, Topology Search of 3-DOF Translational Parallel Manipulators with Three

Identical Limbs for Leg Mechanisms, Chinese Journal of Mechanical Engineering, July 2015, Vol. 28, pp

666-675. DOI: 10.3901/CJME.2015.0408.060.

D. Cafolla and M. Ceccarelli, Design and Validation of a PKM Structure for a Humanoid Torso, 14th World

Congress in Mechanism and Machine Science, Taipei, Taiwan, 25-30 October, 2015, paper OS13-122. DOI

Number: 10.6567/IFToMM.14TH.WC.OS13.122

a b c

14 Issue 2 2015 15Issue 2 2015

ISBE Newsletter Academics

thrust enhancement. The flapping wings also clap and fling at the end of the upstroke, making the prototype

a double-single wing clap-and-fling flying machine. The Odopter can take off vertically, hover, and fly stably

at low speed. Flight control is achieved with conventional rudder and elevator. Powered by an onboard single

cell LiPo battery (3.7V-70 mAh), the Odopter can fly under control for three minutes. NUS- TL-Flower Fly

NUS-TL-FlowerFly

The NUS- TL-FlowerFly and Odopter share many features of fabrication technique and assembly. The

main difference between these two prototypes is that all four wings of the Flower Fly are flapping wings; two

pairs of wings arranged around the fuselage flap in opposite phase. The unique design of gearbox using a

crank-slider mechanism enables one motor to drive all the four wings which sweep a cylindrical volume, and

clap and fling at the end of both upstroke and downstroke, making the FlowerFly a double double-wing clap-

and-fling flying machine. With thrust enhancement using clap-and-fling, the FlowerFly can carry a payload

up to 5 grams at a relatively low flapping frequency range from 10 Hz to 13.7 Hz. The control of roll, pitch,

and yaw is achieved using three control surfaces actuated by three servos at the bottom of the prototype. The

special design enables the FlowerFly weighing 16.6 grams with a wing span of 22 cm to be inherently stable

in hovering flight, and able to perform vertical take-off and landing (VTOL), forward and backward flight

(pitch), left and right flight (yaw), rotation around its long axis (roll), and retake-off with ease. Powered by an

onboard single cell LiPo battery (3.7V for 70 mAh), the FlowerFly can hover for five minutes with an onboard

camera (2.5g) for first-person-view (FPV) control.

Hovering Insect-Inspired FlappingWing Micro Air Vehicles

Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL), agile maneuvering, and hovering flight are extremely desirable

characteristics of insect flight in the development of Flapping-Wing Micro Air Vehicles (FW-MAVs),

which enable an insect-inspired FW-MAV to take off and fly in confined spaces for indoor surveillance.

Moreover, FW-MAVs are more efficient at low Reynolds numbers, less noisy, and less dangerous than their

counterparts with fixed or rotating wings. These key features have led insect-inspired FW-MAVs to be

attractive flying models for modern micro air vehicles. The Temasek Laboratories of the National University

of Singapore has been developing FW-MAVs since September 2012. Toward the autonomous flight in near

future, insect-inspired FW-MAVs capable of vertical take off and stable hovering are the most concern, built,

and tested. Several flapping wing models mimicking insect flight have been fabricated; and recently, Nguyen

et al. have successfully achieved two stable hovering flapping wing prototypes with double wing clap-and-

fling effects, namely, NUS-TL-Odopter (flapping-wing flight of dragonfly) and NUS-TL-FlowerFly (flapping-

wing flight of the hoverfly). Currently, they are working on system identification, autopilot systems and CFD

simulation of the two flying insect-inspired FW-MAVs.

NUS-TL-Odopter with double-single wing clap-and-fling effects mimicking insect flight.

NUS-TL-Odopter

The NUS-TL-Odopter weighing 14.6g with wing span of 22 cm is a flapping wing prototype with a pair

each of flapping and fixed wings attached to a fuselage. The flapping mechanism is based on a planar crank-

rocker mechanism with flapping angle of about 1300 and flapping frequency range from 10 to 1204 Hz. The

main function of the fixed wings is to capitalize on the wing clap-and-fling effect at the end of downstroke for

Quoc Viet Nguyen, Woei Leong Chan, Marco DebiasiNational University of Singapore

NUS-TL-FlowerFly with double-double wing clap-and-fling effects mimicking insect flight.

16 Issue 2 2015 17Issue 2 2015

ISBE Newsletter

Seyed Masoud Moosavi Basri, Iran

In Bionic projects, it is observed that the designers have sacrificed important

parameters such as the durability of structures, the health of the environment,

energy consumption, cost-effectiveness, etc to achieve a particular model in line

with the shape of a live system in nature. This is contrary to the objectives of which

Bionics has been founded. Live systems result from evolution in the configuration

through time, which has used the information from the environment to manage en-

ergy at best to supply desired performance.

It is not convincible to imitate a particular natural form to achieve the benefits

of that form in a man-made system same as the live system itself. A live system is a multilateral engagement

of different organs in a network that possess a particular performance . In my point of view, evolution is a

natural process in which substance consistently flows in a way to flow easily minimizing the waste of different

types of energy. To be able to imply this theory better, I’ve defined three fields for an evolutionary system:

material, structure, and mechanism. A live system with a particular innate performance manages the flow

of substance in three mentioned fields. The difference between live species is in the difference between their

performance and their environments. Physics laws never change and do not have any exceptions. Thus there

is no difference of inspirations in live systems.

I subscribe to the Idea that substance and consequently life is made of a potential difference between

positive and negative charges after the Big Bang. Potential difference leads to make flow then the substance

tends to flow and regarding the information which it receives from the surrounding environment during the

time, structures engender, change, or distorted/extinct.

My recent findings were achieved by conducting assiduous studies on evolution process and physics law

in quantum scale to a complex live system with a new perspective. Generalizing these findings in engineering

fields is the main objective of my current studies. This approach will lead to obtaining promising outcomes

with remarkable achievements in Systems Biology as a recently developed knowledge that having a nature

inspired perspective could be truly navigator in this field. It may lead to crack the black box of live systems

and provide a blueprint of life.

Although my systematic education was in Civil Engineering, I am not afraid of crossing the line. I usu-

ally enjoy challenging impossibilities with my imaginations and thinking about knowledge gaps in science.

My fundamental research started about four years ego conducting multidisciplinary studies in three labs in

Tehran including The Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences, Sharif University of Technology, and

Iran University of Medical Science(IUMS). My research at IUMS is in collaboration with Harvard Medical

School. I have succeeded to have some of my findings and research published, under review, and some drafts

to publish as articles and ebook in the near future.

New Adjustable Biomimetic Hemi-pelvis

Prosthesis for Pelvic Reconstruction

Pelvis plays a key role in load transfer across

hip joints. However, accidents and pelvic bone

tumors can cause the pelvis damage. Pelvic

reconstruction using hemi-pelvic prostheses is an

effective way to recover the biomechanical functions

of pelvis.

Dr. Zikai Hua and his group in Orthotek laboratory

Shanghai University, cooperating with Shanghai

Thytec medical implants company, has been focusing

on the development of biomimetic hemi-pelvic

prostheses since 2010.

Recently, this work moves to a new biomimetic

hemi-pelvic prosthesis, which contains an ilium, an

acetabulum and an adjustable pubis (Fig. 1). Different

from the previous design [Z.K. Hua, et al., Journal of

Bionic Engineering, Vol. 10, Issue 4, 506-513, 2013;

ISBE Newsletter, Vol. 2, Issue 2, 12-13, 2013], the new

prosthesis has an adjustable pubis. In natural pelvis,

the pubic symphysis provides relative small motion

between the left and right pubis, this structure may

have advantage in load transferring of the pelvis.

Referring to such structure, in the new design, a

flexible pubis aims to help the surgeons to reestablish

the pelvic ring in a flexible and easy way.

In order to investigate the biomechanical

performance of this kind of prosthesis, Dr. Hua and

Mr. DongXu Liu, one of the key research members

in Orthek lab, used finite element method to evaluate

the behavior in vivo. They built subject-specific finite

models, which included the related soft tissues, i.e.

ligaments and cartilages in joints (Fig. 2).

Meanwhile, to provide comparison to the finite

element analysis, supported by DOM 3D LTD

(GOM, Germany) and Shanghai First People’s

Hospital, in vitro experiments were conducted by

Orthotek lab as well (Fig. 3). Dr. Hua said that from

the preliminary tests, experimental results agreed

well with the finite elements analysis, indicating

that the new biomimetic hemi-prosthesis could

restore the function of the pelvis reliably. And

experiments under dynamic loading would be

carried out in the future work. Till now, the results

obtained may provide the further optimization of

this prosthesis as well as the clinical guidelines to

patients and surgeons.

Figure 1 Biomimetic hemi-pelvis prosthesis with adjustable

pubis

Figure 2 Finite element models reconstructed pelvis

models using the new biomimetic prosthesis

Figure 3 in vitro biomechanical experiments on

the reconstructed pelvis using the new biomimetic

prosthesis

Zikai Hua, Dongxu Liu, China

Bionics has a distinct unique approach

18 Issue 2 2015 19Issue 2 2015

ISBE Newsletter Upcoming Activities

Upcoming Activities The 5th International Conference of Bionic Engineering (ICBE'16)

21 - 24 June, 2016, The University of Nottingham, Ningbo, China

The 5th International Conference of Bionic Engineering organised by the International Society of

Bionic Engineering (ISBE) will be held in Ningbo at the University of Nottingham Ningbo (UNNC)

campus, 21 – 24, June 2016. This conference aims to provide an international forum for scientists

and engineers around the world who are working in the field of bionic engineering, and also for dissemination

of information and knowledge exchange in biomimetics and bionic engineering. A broad range of topics and

application areas will be devised to reflect the interdisciplinary nature of this conference.

Authors are invited to submit abstracts covering, but not limited to, the following areas:Biomechanics

Bionic structures

Biomimetic materials

Biomimetic Surfaces

Fluids flow and drag reductions

Nature inspired designs

Industrial applications in biomimetics

Sensors and signal processing

Nature inspired energy systems

Robotics, motion systems and artificial intelligence

Nature inspired sport science

Important Dates:Abstract submission: 10th Jan 2016

Notification of accepted abstracts: 25th Jan 2016

Full paper submission: 28th Feb 2016

Notification of accepted full papers: 20th Apr 2016

Early bird Registration deadline: 20th Apr 2016

Publications:Based on conference committee’s recommendations, authors will also have the option to submit their peer-

reviewed conference papers to the following refereed journals:

Journal of Bionic Engineering, Chinese Science Bulletin etc.

Registration Fees:

Conference Participants Registration Fees Fees including

Full Delegate £460

£400 (Early bird)

All proceedings on a USB flash disk A book of abstracts Tickets to all events held Attendance to all topic sessions Welcome reception Welcome package Conference dinner Lunch and refreshment

Student Delegate £260 £200 (Early bird)

There will be an early bird discount if our participants book their places before 20 April, 2016.

Note: Refund is not available once booking is made. We suggest participants register after the paper is

accepted.

Exhibitors:If you would like to book a stand to exhibit your products, please contact us for information.

Sponsors: International Society of Bionic Engnieering (ISBE)

University of Nottingham, UK

University of Nottingham Ningbo, China

Jilin University, China

Royal Society, UK

National Natural Science Foundation of China

Please check on http://icbe2016-unnc.org regularly for any update about the conference, or contact the

conference office for any inquiries at info@icbe2016-unnc.org

20 Issue 2 2015 21Issue 2 2015

CIMTEC 2016 CALL FOR PAPERS

Share your latest achievements in research, technology and new applications with leading-edge experts at

Symposium O

Mining Smartness from Nature:From Bioinspired Materials to Bionic Systems

of the5th International Conference

Smart and Multifunctional Materials, Structures and Systems

CIMTEC 2016June 5-9, 2016, Perugia, Italy

Novel and efficient materials, structures, tools, mechanisms and processes have already

resulted from adapting mechanisms and capabilities from nature and more may be

envisaged for the near future because of the increased understanding of the biological

world, the capability to manage matter down to the atomic scale, the development of novel

algorithms and theories, and the exponentially increasing power for computation and multi-scale

simulation of processes, materials, structures and whole systems. Objective of this symposium,

that follows the ones on the same subject held at previous CIMTEC Conferences, is to merge

biological information with materials science, engineering and medical sciences at the purpose

of exploring new ideas and accomplishments for the practice of bio-inspired design to gather

momentum and offer innovative solutions.

CIMTEC 2016 will gather together a large and qualified audience of materials scientists,

physicists, chemists, biologists, physicians and engineers, as well as experts of a wide range of

the most advanced and demanding research and application areas of smart materials and related

technologies. The president of ISBE Julian Vincent and some other members of the society will

attend the conference and give reports. On the top of this premier event in materials, the Umbria

region will offer its wonderful landscape and its immense, unique artistic heritage!

Learn more about CIMTEC Conferenceshttp://www.cimtec-congress.org/

Welcome to Living Machines 2016

The 5th International Conference on Biomimetic and Biohybrid Systems will be hosted at the Dynamic

Earth, Edinburgh, Scotland. 18th to 22nd July 2016. The conference is Organized by the Convergent

Science Network in association with Heriot Watt University and University of Edinburgh.

RELEVANT DATESMarch 11th, 2016 Paper submission deadlineApril 29th, 2016 Notification of acceptanceMay 16th, 2016 Camera ready copyJuly 18-22nd 2016 Conference

VenueLiving Machines 2016 will be hosted at Dynamic Earth, a 5 star visitor attraction in the heart of Edinburgh’s

historic old town, next door the Scottish Parliament and Holyrood Palace. Dynamic Earth is a visitor experience that which invites you to take a journey through time to witness the story of planet Earth. Through a series of interactive exhibits, state of the art technology and even a 4D encounter you will feel the heat of a bubbling volcano, face the chill of polar ice, fly across the globe before crash landing in a tropical rainforest. Attendees at the conference will receive a discount voucher to visit the Dynamic Earth exhibit.

Supported by

ProgrammeThe main conference will take the form of a three-day single-track oral and poster presentation programme,

20th to 22nd July 2016, hosted at Dynamic Earth, Edinburgh, Scotland.

The conference programme will include five plenary lectures from leading international researchers in

biomimetic and biohybrid systems, and the demonstrations of state-of-the-art living machine technologies

The full conference will be preceded by up to two days of Sateliite Events hosted by the School of Informatics

at the University of Edinburgh.

ISBE Newsletter Upcoming Activities

22 Issue 2 2015 23Issue 2 2015

ICAIRBM 2016 : 18th International Conference on Advanced

Industrial Robotics and Bionic Mechanisms

Conference Aims and Objectives

The ICAIRBM 2016: 18th International Conference on Advanced Industrial Robotics and Bionic

Mechanisms aims to bring together leading academic scientists, researchers and research scholars to exchange

and share their experiences and research results about all aspects of Advanced Industrial Robotics and Bionic

Mechanisms. It also provides the premier interdisciplinary forum for researchers, practitioners and educators

to present and discuss the most recent innovations, trends, and concerns, practical challenges encountered

and the solutions adopted in the field of Advanced Industrial Robotics and Bionic Mechanisms.

Conference Proceedings

All submitted conference papers will be blind peer reviewed by three competent reviewers. The post

conference proceedings will be abstracted and indexed in the International Science Index , and submitted to

be indexed in the Google Scholar, Scopus and Thomson Reuters. The conference abstracts and proceedings

book, CD and certificate of presentation will be distributed to the conference participants at the conference

registration desk.

Special Journal Issues

ICAIRBM 2016 has teamed up with the Special Journal Issue on Advances in Advanced Industrial Robotics

and Bionic Mechanisms. A number of selected high-impact full text papers will also be considered for the

special journal issues. All submitted papers will have opportunities for consideration for this Special Journal

Issue. The paper selection will be carried out during the peer review process as well as at the conference

presentation stage. Submitted papers must not be under consideration by any other journal or publication.

The final decision for paper selection will be made based on peer review reports by the Guest Editors and the

Editor-in-Chief jointly. Selected full text papers will be online published as free of charge.

More information, Please visit: https://www.waset.org/conference/2016/06/copenhagen/ICAIRBM.

Copenhagen, DenmarkJune 27 - 28, 2016

ISBE NEWSLETTER Contact - Office of Secretariat, ISBE Address: 1202 Administrative Building, Jilin University, 2699 Qianjin Street, Changchun 130012, P. R. ChinaTel/ Fax: +86-431-85166507E-mail: secretariat@isbe-online.org; office@isbe-online.orgWebsite: http://www.isbe-online.org/