isbe newsletter 2015 issue 2
DESCRIPTION
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. ISBE is made up of 800 Individual Members coming from 51 different countries and regions and 6continents of the world. There are two classes of Members: Individual Member and Corporate Member.TRANSCRIPT
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: [email protected]
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
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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: [email protected]; [email protected]
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.
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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
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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
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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 [email protected]
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: [email protected]; [email protected]: http://www.isbe-online.org/