NewsletterInternational Society of Bionic Engineering

Volume 6, Issue 4, 2017

06

06

08

2-News and Events

Dr. Jianing WU made a speech at the Symposium in Vienna, Aus-tria

Prof. He LIU elected to Chinese Academy of Engineering

The Symposium on Healthcare Cooperation

03-0405

1-Members

4-Upcoming Activities

Hao LIU

13

11

11

3-Academics

Simulation architecture for modelling interaction between user and elbow-articulated exoskeleton

Adhesion and suction functions of the tip region of a nectar-drinking butterfly proboscis

Electrically-and sunlight-driven actuator with versatile biomimetic motions based on rolled carbon nanotube bilayer composite

Longjian XUE

Contents

ISTVS 10th Asia-Pacific Regional Conference15

2018 International Workshop on Bionic Engineering 14

17

International Workshop on Healthcare Engineering and Biorobotics

07

The public voting of ISBE Bionic Innovation Competition has started

08

A biorobotic adhesive disc inspired by the remora suckerfish 12

16

16 The 2nd International Youth Conference of Bionic Science and Engineering (ICBSE2018)

07

Welcome the first Corporate Members of ISBE

2018 ASABE Annual International Meeting

12 New magnetic nanoparticles could treat cancer

Biomimetic Idea from Daniel Tinello wins 5886 Dollar Price.Thematic Research Award of the Province of Styria 2017- Category Industry

09

The company Kowat has received an award from the United Nations on the invention of biomimetic drones

10

ICBMMC 2018 : 20th International Conference on Bionic Mechanisms and Mechanical Control

18 The 14th International Conference on Intelligent Unmanned Systems

Newsletter 3

ISBE 2017 NewsletterMembers

• Professor and director, Biomechanical Engineering Lab of Department of Mechanical Engineering, Chiba University• Director of Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Chiba University International Cooperative Research Center (SJTU-CU ICRC)

Hao LIUChiba University, Japan

I s t e p p e d i n t o t h e f i e l d o f b i o n i c

engineering in 1992 when luckily joining

a JST (Japan Science and Technology

Corporation)-sponsored “Mill i-biofl ight

Project”, which was the first government-

supported large-scale project at that time on

unveiling the novel mechanisms of how insects

and birds fly. After received my Bachelor

degree in applied

m e c h a n i c s f r o m

Dalian University

of Technology in

1985, I moved to

Japan and was then

trained with master

and PhD degrees

in fluid mechanics

i n s h i p b u i l d i n g ,

i n p a r t i c u l a r

computational fluid

d y n a m i c s . W h e n

working with Ship Research Institute, Japan, I

happened to notice that I was mostly fascinated

by the beautiful and mysterious mechanical

phenomenon in nature and was fortunately

able to join the JST project, which completely

changed my career path then. I have since then

taken my motto as “Learning from Nature” and

benefitted much from enjoying discoveries at the

edge through ‘crossing the borders’ of different

fields.

I have since then written numerous well

recognized publications on biomechanics in

animal flight and swimming, and in particular,

made a cutting-edge contribution to the

community of bio-inspired flight systems

and more recently micro air vehicles (MAV)

Figure 1: (a) Streamlines around a swimming tadpole, (b) Leading-edge vortex in hawkmoth hovering, (c) Hummingbird-inspired flapping MAV

ISBE 2017 Newsletter

4 Newsletter

Members

by establishing the area of Computational

Biomechanics in Swimming and Flying in terms of

simulation-based integrative biomechanics. With

this integrated framework, my lab has achieved

many important contributions to rigid & flexible

flapping-wing aerodynamics as well as insect

flight stability and control, and won international

reputation. My lab has also been well recognized

recently in the biomimetcis of insect & bird flight

systems and successfully developed an insect-

inspired, flapping-wing MAV with a weight of

2.4~3.0 gram and a wingspan of 10~12 cm.

With a well-trained background of applied

mechanics my research interests further branched

out into the field of biomechanics and predictive

medicine in the cardiovascular system, and since

working with RIKEN (The Institute of Physical

and Chemical Research) in 2000, I had a chance

to co-direct several large-scale projects on

computational biomechanics sponsored by MEXT,

Japan. Collaborating with medical doctors and

biomedical engineers my lab has published many

outstanding works on in silico patient-specific

modeling in surgical decision-making process and

has been recognized internationally in the area

of multi-scale, multi-physical modeling of the

cardiovascular system.

My lab is recently exploring an emerging area

of bio-inspired engineering to solve practical

problems through the abstraction, transfer,

a n d a p p l i c a t i o n o f

knowledge gained from

biological systems by

interdisciplinary and

industrial cooperation.

I strongly believe that,

seeking sustainable

solutions by emulating

nature’s time-tested

patterns and strategies,

i . e . , the concept o f

b i o m i m e t i c d e s i g n

would be of great potential to bring disruptive

innovations to and revolutionize the next

generation-designs in industry. Collaborating

with industry my lab has successfully developed

several bio-inspired technologies, e.g., an owl-

inspired silent rotor for drones and a bird-

inspired robust blade for wind turbines, etc. I

am also enjoying development of international

reputation in various activities serving as board

editors of Biomimetics & Bioinspiration, Acta

Mechanica Sinica, Journal of Bionics Engineering,

and Journal of Aero Aqua Biomechanisms. I has

given more than 80 seminars and invited/keynote

lectures in many institutions and conferences,

and is a Guest Chief Scientist of RIKEN (2003),

a visiting Chair professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong

University (2008), a Guest Professor of Chinese

Academy of Sciences’ Graduate School (2000),

China Science and Technology University (China)

(2000), and a visiting professor of The Hong Kong

University of Science and Technology (2014). My

professional views have been quoted in several

news media, including the NHK, the TBS, the

AFP, the Thomson Reuter, the Yomiuri Shimbun,

the Asashi Shimbun, the Nikkei Shimbun, the

Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun etc. as well as the Science

Channel Network of the JST (Japan Science and

Technology Agency).

Figure 2: Multi-scale, multi-physical simulation in the cardiovascular system

Newsletter 5

ISBE 2017 NewsletterMembers

P rofessor Longjian XUE received

his Ph.D. degree on the topic of

stability of polymer thin films from

Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry,

Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2010. After

the Ph.D., he studied the electric field-induced

self-assembly of polymers in the Department of

Macromolecular Materials and Surfaces, RWTH

Aachen University, Germany. 2010-2013, he

was supported by Alexander von Humboldt

Fellowship and studied bioinspired dry adhesion

based on bottom-up methods at the Institute

for Chemistry, University of Osnabrueck and

Zoology Institute, Kiel University. In 2013, he

moved to Max Planck Institute for Polymer

Research in Mainz and joined the group of Active

Surfaces and Materials where he further studied

bioinspired surfaces for adhesion and friction.

Longjian XUE

Wuhan University, China

In 2015, he was elected in Young 1000 Talents

Program and appointed as a Professor of Material

Science at Wuhan University.

His research interests include bioinspired

functional materials,stability of thin polymer

films/coatings, patterning of thin polymer

films and microfabrication technologies. His

current researches mainly focus on the design

and fabrication of bioinspired micro- & nano-

structures for controlled adhesion under various

conditions. Inspired by the adhesive toe pads of

animals using reversible adhesion for locomotion,

structured surfaces with controllable adhesion

have been achieved in several kinds of materials.

By constructing proper pillar structures, non-

adhesive stiff polymers could possess high

adhesion forces, even higher than gecko toe pad.

They propose to unify the two kinds of adhesive

structures, fibrillarand smooth adhesive toe

pad, by pillar structures, and to use the effective

elastic modulus of pillar structure to guide the

structure design. Moreover, they find that both

the overhang structure in fibrillar pillar and the

inner-structure of smooth pad can regulate the

stress distribution at the separating interface

and enhance adhesion. These findings may pave

the way to new design principles for structured

adhesives.

Figure 1. Biological models for structured dry and wet adhesions. Inspired by geckos fibrillar structures have been fabricated to study the dry adhesion. Learning from tree frogs and flies, wet adhesions with liquid at the contact interface have also been investigated.

6 Newsletter

ISBE 2017 Newsletter News and Events

Prof. He LIU elected to Chinese Academy of Engineering

O n N o v e m b e r 2 7 , H e L I U , a n

Individual Member of ISBE and

Professor of Research Institute of

Petroleum Exploration & Development (RIPED),

China National Petroleum Corporation was

elected to the Chinese Academy of Engineering

(CAE). CAE membership is China's highest title

in the field of Engineering and Technological

Science, and a lifelong honor. New members are

recruited every two years.

Prof. He LIU was born in Harbin city,

Heilongjiang Province, and graduated from

Daqing Petroleum College in 1982. At present,

he is the Deputy Chief Engineer of RIPED.

He is also the Chief Scientist of National

High Technology Research and Development

Program ("863"Program) of China. Professor

LIU worked on the frontline of production and

research for more than 30 years and made

important contribution to enhance Oil Recovery

of Mature Oil Fields and to efficiently develop

the Low Permeability Reservoir and Complex

Oil-Gas Reservoir. Several techniques, such as

Intelligent Separate Layer Water Flooding and

Efficient Synchronous Testing & Adjusting, have

become the kernel for developing technologies in

Oil fields.

The Public Voting of

ISBE Bionic Innovation

Competition has

Started

T he submission of ISBE Bionic Inno-

vation Competition started in this

July, and more than 130 works from

around the world have been received. After the

preliminarily evaluation, there are 115 works

going to the next process for online voting and

jury evaluation.

The public voting of Competition http://tgxt.

isbe-online.org/ has started today and will end

on 7 January, 2018. It should be noticed that

only the activated ISBE account could vote, and

each account is entitled with three votes, one for

Best Design, one for Most Popular, and one for

Best Innovation.

The jury has also evaluated the submissions

in parallel, and the final result probably will be

published in the late January of 2018.

The public voting of ISBE Bionic Innovation Competition has started

Newsletter 7

ISBE 2017 NewsletterNews and Events

Symposium on Healthcare Cooperation

O n November 14, 2017, the Interna-

tional Symposium on Healthcare

Cooperation was successfully held in

Jilin University. The Symposium was organized

by the Key Laboratory of Bionic Engineering

(Ministry of Education) Jil in University,

International Society of Bionic Engineering,

Journal of Bionic Engineering, Institute of Bionic

Science and Engineering of Jilin University. The

symposium aims at promoting interdisciplinary

communication and cooperation on bionic

engineering, biomedicine and traditional Chinese

medicine as well as accelerating the development

of bionic medical sciences and health service in

Jilin province. Professor Thomas M. Roberts,

former dean of Medical School of Harvard and

Prof. Luquan REN, academician of the Chinese

academy of sciences, attended the Symposium

and made speeches.

The delegates to the symposium achieved

a g r e e m e n t o n t h e c o n s t r u c t i o n o f t h e

international joint laboratory on bionic health

engineering, and the establishment of the Bionic

Healthcare Resort project in Lotus Mountain. A

tentative cooperation was made between Jilin

University and Harvard Medical School that

was to build a service center to provide remote

diagnosis for Chinese patients jointly by the

First Bethune Hospital of Jilin University and

DANA-FARBER Cancer Center. At the same

time, the two sides planned to invite members

of the DANA-FARBER Cancer Center board to

visit Jilin University in 2018 so as to deepen the

communication and cooperation.

D r . J i a n i n g

WU, who is a

postdoctoral

fellow in Georgia Tech,

made a speech t i t led

'The honeybee toolkit:

mechanical perfection

and how to save energy'

in a symposium, Insects and Flowers—New

views of an old partnership, on Oct 20, Vienna,

Austria. He presented a series of strategies

applied by honeybees in feeding and grooming,

and provided new paradigms of bio-inspired

engineering facilities.

Dr Jianing WU is a member of ISBE, who

Dr. Jianing WU made a speech at the Symposium in Vienna, Austria

has published more than

10 papers about feeding

mechanism of insects. He

won the ISBE Outstanding

Student Award in 2016

according to the honeybee

work. Dr Friedrich G.

Barth from University

of Vienna, who is a famous scholar on animal

communications, made the opening speech. This

symposium invited ten scholars from all round

the world who are working on insect behavior,

and the ecological connections between insects

and plants. This event was held by Austria

Academy of Science.

8 Newsletter

ISBE 2017 Newsletter News and Events

International Workshop on Healthcare Engineering and Biorobotics

T he Internat ional Workshop on

Healthcare Engineering and Bio-

robotics, jointly organized by the

ISBE, University of Manchester（UK）, IRCCS

Istituto Ortopedico Galeazzi（Italy）, and Jilin

University (China) was held successfully at Jilin

University on October 18, 2017. The honorary

chair of the conference was Luquan REN who

is the Executive Vice President of ISBE and

professor of Jilin University. The chairs of the

workshop were Prof. Jianqiao LI, the General

Secretary of ISBE, Prof. Lei REN from the Uni-

versity of Manchester(UK),

Prof. Zhiwu HAN from Jilin

University and Professor

Fabio Galbusera from Italy.

The workshop focused

on the current progress of

international bionic healthcare engineering re-

search, the research frontier of the underwater

bionic robot, as well as land-based bionic robot

research advancement and development trends.

It demonstrated the latest research results in

international bionic healthcare engineering

and bionic robots, deepened the consensus of

high-level international cooperative research

among participants，and further promoted the

wider academic communication and cooperation

in this field, which had given an important push

towards the overall development of the bionic

engineering disciplines.

Welcome the first Corporate Members of ISBE

T he International Society of Bionic

Engineering (ISBE) is an educational,

non-profit, non-political organization

formed in 2010. The Society is dedicated to the

advancement of communication and cooperation

among all scholars, and the furtherance of

knowledge and education in the field of bionic

engineering.

In order to further strengthen the mem-

bership management of ISBE, improve the

international academic influence, and promote

the advancement of the bionic engineering

discipline, 6 institutes and enterprises have

become the first corporate members of ISBE,

which are as follows:

1. Key Laboratory of Bionic Engineering,

Ministry of Education, Jilin University;

2. Institute of Bio-inspired Structure and

Surface Engineering, Nanjing University of

Aeronautics and Astronautics;

3. Institute of Bionic and Micro-Nano

Systems, School of Mechanical Engineering and

Automation, Beihang University;

4. Bionic Tribology Group of Lanzhou

Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy

of Sciences;

5. Changchun Ruitebolk Technology co.

LTD;

6. JLU Geoscience & Exploitation Corp.

Newsletter 9

ISBE 2017 NewsletterNews and Events

Biomimetic Idea from Daniel Tinello wins 5886 Dollar Prize.Thematic Research Award of the Province of

Styria 2017- Category IndustryDaniel Tinello, Graz University of Technology, Austria

A fter studying business administration

with a focus on production and

logistics in Innsbruck (Austria),

I’ve started my PhD in the field of biologically

inspired factory layouts. The central question was

if it is possible to find in living creation structures

which can help to build more economic factories.

It was found out that spiderwebs, nautilus

shells and fibonacci-based patterns achieve

remarkable results with savings of up to 43% in

some cases. However, it should be noted that

the effectiveness of such bio- inspired layouts is

highly dependent on the

underlying production

processes of the reference

factory. For this research

activities (see paper Tinello

et al. 2016) I was awarded

on the 13th November 2017

in Graz (Styria, Austria)

with the 5000 Euro (5886

USD)Thematic Research

Award of the Province

of Styria 2017- Category

I n d u s t r y w h i c h w a s

rewarded personally from

the federal state counsellor

of science. In course of this

Figure 1: At the award ceremony. Thematic Research Award of the Province of Styria 2017- Category Industry. From left: Georg Knill (President of the Federation of Styrian Industry), Daniel Tinello, Barbara Eibinger-Miedl (federal state counsilor of science)

Figure 2: Honeycomb, Nautilus-shell and spider web as bio-inspiration for future factory layouts.

©Kanizaj

work, the research project

BioFacLay was created, which deals with the

possible potential of such bio- inspired layouts.

Awarded: Paper:

Tinello, D., H. Winkler, and D. Jodin. (2016):

“Biomimetics applied to logistics: Fibonacci

based patterns, spider webs and nautilus shell

as bio-inspiration to reduce material flow in

factories. “ in: CIRP Journal of Manufacturing

Science and Technology, Issue May 2016, Volume

13, p. 51-71, DOI: 10.1016/j.cirpj.2016.02.003

Link to Governmental Page of Thematic

Research Award:

(http://www.wissenschaft.steiermark.at/

cms/ziel/136656072/DE/)

Link to Project

www.biofaclay.info

ISBE 2017 Newsletter Academics

10 Newsletter

The company Kowat has received an award from the United Nations on the invention of biomimetic drones

T he company Kowat has designed

biomimetic drones to f ight in a

sustainable way against bird pests in

agriculture.

Bird pests are one of the biggest problems

that farmers in our country must face. But many

of the solutions proposed to scare or eliminate

directly the birds that ruin economic activities are

contrary to the preservation of the environment

and in many cases are not effective.

A creative and sustainable solution to

this problem has come hand in hand with the

Sevillian company Kowat, who has been working

on a scarecrow or biomimetic drone for almost

15 years. The main "biological weapon" that uses

is the fear and stress that causes in the birds

that attack the crops ... This unmanned airplane

that mimics the appearance of other birds, is

built with 70% recyclable materials and displays

the typical flight of birds like the hawk, or the

goshawk.

The secret is to "disguise" the drone as the

species that frightens the invading bird, causing

fear and driving it away with an effectiveness of

90%. Not only is it worth reproducing the aspect

of the bird that bothers and instills fear, it is

also studying and reproducing the flight of the

"attacking" bird in a remote-controlled way so

that invasive species feel that it is real.

No environmental impactOne of the strong points is that it does not

generate any environmental impact or harm to

the birds, a great advantage by avoiding the use of

lethal methods and contributing to maintaining

biodiversity by avoiding the use of nets and

nets in which birds can get entangled and die

drowning or hunger.

It is interesting to talk with Paco Morente,

founder and scientific director of Kowat who has

been studying and learning how to carry out a

project that now faces its commercial production.

But before talking about his creation he insists

on emphasizing animal psychology, the ancestral

fear that persists in animals from generation to

generation. It also highlights that the drone can,

in addition to being used in crops, also find its

place in large cities or airports.

Champions Award for ClimateRecently, the Global Green Economy Day and

the Climate Movement in Madrid have been held,

highlighting the need for "eco-entrepreneurship"

to preserve our Planet of Climate Change.

Likewise, an original contest was organized in

parallel, the Climate Champions Awards , to

recognize the work of "eco-entrepreneurs" and

SMEs whose business solutions have the most

potential to face climate change. Among the

15 designated by the jury is Kowat, this project

that seeks to solve bird pests in different areas

in a sustainable manner and reconciled with the

environment.

ISBE 2017 NewsletterAcademics

Newsletter 11

Simulation architecture for modelling interaction between user and elbow-articulated exoskeleton

Bas J. de Kruif, Emilio Schmidhauser, Konrad S. Stadler, Leonard W. O’Sullivan

T he aim of our work is to improve the

existing user-exoskeleton models by

introducing a simulation architecture

that can simulate its dynamic interaction,

thereby altering the initial motion of the user. A

simulation architecture is developed that uses

the musculoskeletal models from OpenSim,

and that implements an exoskeleton control

algorithm and human response model in Matlab.

The musculoskeletal models need to be extended

with the response of a user to external forces

to simulate the dynamic interaction. A set of

experiments was performed to fit this response

model. A validation test showed that more

than 80% of the variance of the motion could

be explained. With the human response model

in the combined simulation architecture, a

simulation in which an object connects with the

exoskeleton or with the human is performed.

The effect of the exoskeleton on, among others,

muscle excitation and altered motion can be

assessed with this architecture. Our work can be

used to better predict the effect an exoskeleton

has on the user.

Adhesion and suction functions of the tip region of a nectar-drinking butterfly proboscis

Seung Chul Lee, Jun Ho Kim, Sang Joon Lee, Korea

I n this study, we investigated the dynamic

functions of the tip region of the butterfly

proboscis through which liquid is sucked

during liquid feeding. The microstructures and

flow patterns in the tip region of the proboscis

were in vivo analyzed. The tip region can be

divided into two functional sections: namely

adhesion and suction sections. The liquid adheres

to the adhesion section during liquid suction.

Although the tip region has numerous slits

connected to food canal of the proboscis, liquid is

mainly sucked through the suction section, which

section is submerged in the fluid pulled by the

adhesion section and then successfully imbibes

liquid. To check the dynamic functions of the tip

region, we fabricated a suction tip model having

adhesion and suction parts. The in vitro model

experiments show that the hydrophilicity of the

adhesion part and the existence of the suction

inlet improve the liquid uptake driven by a

suction pump. This study may provide insights

for the biomimetic design of nectar-feeding

butterflies.

The paper was published in the Journal of

Bionic Engineering in October2017. For more

information please visit http://jbe.jlu.edu.cn.

The paper was published in the Journal of

Bionic Engineering in October 2017. For more

information please visit http://jbe.jlu.edu.cn.

ISBE 2017 Newsletter Academics

12 Newsletter

A biorobotic adhesive disc inspired by the remora suckerfish

Li WEN, Beihang University, China

R ecently, Prof.

L i W E N ’ s

team in Bei-

hang University, Beijing,

built a biorobotic adhesive

disc which is inspired by

the remora suckerfish

a n d p u b l i s h e d t h e i r

achievement in Science

Robotics as the cover article. This is the first

time Chinese institutes publish cover article in

Science Robotics.

In the research, the main bioinspired disc

structure is fabricated by multi-materials

3D printing, and the rigid spinules (270 µm)

embedded on the soft actuator-controlled

lamellae is fabricated by micro laser cutting

technique. The biorobotic disc prototype can

mimic the morphological and kinematical

features of its biological counterpart. Based

on force experiments, Wen’ team discovered

that both of the rigid spinules and soft material

overlaying the lamellae engage with the

surface when rotated, and the biomimetic

kinematics result in significantly enhanced

frictional forces across the disc on substrates of

different roughness. Using this prototype, an

underwater robot capable of strong adhesion

and hitchhiking on a variety of surfaces was

designed and demonstrated.

Paper: http://robotics.sciencemag.org/

content/2/10/eaan8072

New magnetic nanoparticles could treat cancer

M agnetic nanoparticle induced

hyperthermia is a green method

of treating cancer, where a key

issue is how to monitor and control the therapy

temperature. Recently, Prof. Chengwei Wu’s

group in Dalian University of Technology have

developed ‘intelligent’ nanoparticles which

heat up to a temperature high enough to kill

cancerous cells – but which then self-stops

heating before they get hot enough to harm

healthy tissue.

Prof. Chengwei Wu said, “These nanopar-

ticles offer the advantages over the traditional

magnetic induced hyperthermia in that the

use of the clumsy temperature monitoring and

controlling systems become unnecessary. This

may change the way we treat cancers.”

Dr. Wei Zhang (the first author of the paper)

said: “ When the

temperature is

below the thera-

py temperature,

the nanoparticles

start generating

heat. When the

t e m p e r a t u r e

reaches the therapy temperature, the nanopar-

ticles self-stops heating. In one regard, these

nanoparticles resembles a therapy temperature

intrigued switch, the performance of which can

be regulated by adjusting the magnetic proper-

ties of the nanoparticles. “

This exciting new study has been reported in

Nanoscale as a front cover paper.

( http://pubs.rsc.org/en/Content/Article-

Landing/2017/NR/C7NR02356A#!divAbstract)

ISBE 2017 NewsletterAcademics

Newsletter 13

Electrically-and sunlight-driven actuator with versatile biomimetic motions based on rolled carbon nanotube

bilayer compositeYing HU, Hefei University of Technology, China

D esigning multi-stimuli responsive

soft actuators which can mimic

advanced and sophisticated biological

movements through simple configuration is

highly demanded for the biomimetic robotics

application. Especially, compared to a variety

of motions from living beings in nature, novel

forms of sophisticated biomimetic locomotion

including flying and jumping are lacking in soft

actuator research. As one of the efficient forms of

locomotion, jumping has been adopted widely by

animals in nature such as frogs, fleas, rabbits, and

kangaroos. Usually most jumping robot designs

involve springs or similar devices for energy

storage and quick release which propels the robot

upward into the air. The commonly flicking finger

behavior, which involves the accumulation of

elastic energy between the thumb and middle

finger and the sudden release to generate large

kinetic energy output (see Fig.1a), It may provide

an alternative way.

Recently, inspired by the flicking finger

motion, Ying Huand co-workers develop a new

type of soft jumping robot based on the rolled

CNT/polymer bilayer composite actuators.

This bilayer actuator with tubular shape shows

reversible ultra large shape change from tubular

to flat upon both the electrical and sunlight

stimulation with fast response. The fabricated

jumping robot with the two ends (similar to

the thumb and the middle finger) (see Fig.1b)

overlapped could jump up to a height which is

5 times higher than its own height upon light

irradiation accompanied by a somersault due

to the energy accumulation and instantaneous

release (see Fig.1c), which mimics the gymnast’s

motion in the air. By changing the direction of

incident light, this jumping robot generates cyclic

wobbling, just like a tumbler. Moreover, a variety

of smart robots, including electrical/light induced

crawling-type walking robots, mechanical gripper

for grapping objects, and ambient sunlight

induced blooming of a biomimetic flower (see

Fig.2), are all designed. These intriguing results

reveal the promising prospect of this type of

rolled bilayer actuators for the construction of

advanced biomimetic devices in diverse practical

application fields.

The paper has published in Advanced

Functional Materials (Adv. Funct. Mater., 2017,

DOI: 10.1002/adfm.201704388). For more

information please visit https://doi.org/10.1002/

adfm.201704388.

Figure 1. (a) The motion of flicking finger with two process containing energy accumulation ( ⅰ ) and release ( ⅱ ). (b) Schematic illustration of the jumping of the tubular soft actuator mimicking the flicking finger behavior. (c) Light induced jumping motion with somersault in the air.

Figure 2.Ambient sunlight induced actuation of the biomimetic flower which is put in the sun.

Upcoming ActivitiesISBE 2017 Newsletter

14 Newsletter

2018 International Workshop on Bionic Engineering (IWBE2018)June 13-15, 2018 Tel Aviv, Israel

Organizers: International Society of Bionic Engineering (ISBE)

Israel Biomimicry Organization (IBO)

This conference aims to provide an international forum for scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs

around the world who are working in the field of bionic engineering and biomimetic design 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, and the unique interface of academy and industry.

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

Biomimetic surfaces; Biomimetic materials; Machinery biomimetics; Bionic fluid; Sensors and

signal processing; Robotics, motion systems and artificial intelligence; Energy systems; Sustainable

biomimetic innovations; Biomimetic design methodologies; Industrial applications in biomimetics:

products and technologies

Submission email: Yael@biomimicry.org.il

Important Dates:

Abstract submission: 1 Feb 2018

Notification of accepted abstracts: 15 Feb 2018

Full paper submission: 15 Mar 2018

Notification of accepted full papers: 15 Apr 2018

Early bird Registration deadline: 20 Apr 2018

Contact: Yael@biomimicry.org.il

More information, Please visit: http://www.isbe-online.org

Upcoming Activities ISBE 2017 Newsletter

Newsletter 15

ISTVS Asia-Pacific Regional Conference 2018

Organized by: INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR TERRAIN-VEHICLE SYSTEMS (ISTVS)ISBE will organize a Bionics Session at ISTVS 10th Asia-Pacific Regional Conference

Conference Theme: “Knowing Tradition & Promoting Innovation”Conference Sessions:

Terramechanics, terrain/soil-wheel/tire/track interaction, modeling and characterization

Advances in mobility, energy transfer, efficiency, ground vehicle dynamics, safety

Land locomotion, off-road vehicles, operation snow and ice

Agricultural, forestry, construction and mining equipment and vehicles

Mobile robotics for ground applications, planetary and exploration, other environments

Innovative system designs for terrain and road-vehicle applications

Application of bionics engineering to terramechanics

Submission Schedule:

Abstract Due January 11, 2018

Full Paper Due March 1, 2018

Report of Review Result April 11, 2018

Final Conference Paper Due May 11, 2018

For more information please visit the conference website at https://www.apistvs2018.org/

July 11-13, 2018,Kyoto, Japan

16 Newsletter

ISBE 2017 Newsletter News and Events

Organized by: American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE)ISBE will organize a Bionics Session at ASABE 2018 Annual International Meeting.The 2017 ASABE Annual International Meeting was a resounding Success! This is your opportunity to

be part of this outstanding program. The ASABE 2018 Technical Committees are currently accepting

abstract proposals for presentation at the annual meeting, taking place in Detroit, Michigan, July

29-August 1, 2018.

Share your expertise, professional insights, and industry best practices by becoming a presenter.

Interact with the industry’s best and brightest engineers and engineering students while imparting your

knowledge.

ASABE is seeking abstracts for the following technical communities:

Applied Science & Engineering

Energy Systems

Ergonomics, Safety & Health

Education, Outreach & Professional Development

Information Technology, Sensors & Control Systems

Machinery Systems-Bionics Engineering for Agricultural Automated Systems

Natural Resources & Environmental Systems

Plant, Animal, and Facility Systems

Processing Systems

Answer the Call for Papers TODAY and help promote and educate your profession! Click here to submit

your abstract.

Deadline to submit your abstract is Wednesday, January 3, 2018

Mark your Calendars and Submit Today!

www.asabemeetings.org

Upcoming Activities ISBE 2017 Newsletter

Newsletter 17

The 2nd International Youth Conference of Bionic Science and Engineering (ICBSE2018)

November 7-9, 2018Odense, Denmark

London, United KingdomMay 14 - 15, 2018

The ICBMMC 2018: 20th International Conference on Bionic Mechanisms and Mechanical Control aims

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

their experiences and research results on all aspects of Bionic Mechanisms and Mechanical Control.

It also provides a premier interdisciplinary platform for researchers, practitioners and educators to

present and discuss the most recent innovations, trends, and concerns as well as practical challenges

encountered and solutions adopted in the fields of Bionic Mechanisms and Mechanical Control.

More information, please visit https://www.waset.org/conference/2018/05/london/ICBMMC

ICBMMC 2018 : 20th International Conference on Bionic Mechanisms and Mechanical Control

Upcoming ActivitiesISBE 2017 Newsletter

18 Newsletter

Konkuk University in South Korea hosts 14th International Conference on Intelligent Unmanned

Systems at Jeju Island, South Korea from August 20 to 23, 2018. The conference chair is Professor Hoon

Cheol Park, who is now serving as president of International Society of Intelligent Unmanned Systems.

Welcome to ICIUS 2018! The 14th ICIUS will be held in Jeju Island, South Korea, which is one of the

Seven Wonders of Nature and UNESCO’s Natural Heritage Sites since 2007. Other than beautiful

scenery, you can enjoy lots of activities for kids and adults at sea side and mountain area. ICIUS

2018 is the second ICIUS held in Jeju after ICIUS 2009. ICIUS has been a place of sharing newest

research outcomes on unmanned robotic systems among world-wide experts; ICIUS 2018 should be no

exception. Another fascinating fact is that all participants can become friends through the event, which

is impossible at a huge conference.

TOPICS OF INTERESTSThe topics of interests include, but are not limited to Unmanned Systems, Robotics and Biomimetics,

Control and Computation, Intelligent Systems, and Space Robots

TENTATIVE SCHEDULEFebruary 1, 2018 Invited session proposals

March 1, 2018 Abstract submission

May 1, 2018 Full paper submission

June 1, 2018 Acceptance notification

July 1, 2018 Final paper submission, Early bird & hotel registration

Organized by

Department of Advanced Technology Fusion, Konkuk University

Department of Smart Vehicle Engineering, Konkuk University

Department of Aerospace Information Engineering, Konkuk University

Sponsored by

International Society of Intelligent Unmanned Systems

Home page: www.icius2018.org

The 14th International Conference on Intelligent Unmanned Systems

Ocean Suites Hotel, Jeju Island, South Korea, August 20 ~ 23, 2018

ISBE Newsletter

Editor in ChiefLuquan REN

Associate Editors in ChiefJianqiao LIRunmao WANG

Assistant Editor in ChiefXimei TIAN

Executive EditorYue GAO

Published by the International Society of Bionic Engineering (ISBE)

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ISBE NEWSLETTER Contact - Office of Secretariat, ISBE

Address: C508 Dingxin Building, Jilin University, 2699 Qianjin Street,

Changchun 130012, P. R. China

Tel/ Fax: +86-431-85166507

E-mail: gyue@isbe-online.org; secretariat@isbe-online.org

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

Volume 6, Issue 4, 2017

ISBE Newsletter