Contents
29 January 2020
Vol 5, Issue 38
Vol 5, Issue 38
Focus
- A vision for future bioinspired and biohybrid robots
Bioinspired and biohybrid robots can help respond to diverse, sustainable application needs.
- Metal or muscle? The future of biologically inspired robots
Biology has inspired the development of agile robots, and it is now teaching us how to grow machines from living cells.
- Forging global cooperation and collaboration
Major robotics initiatives and government funding programs need better international cooperation and collaboration.
Research Articles
- Autonomic perspiration in 3D-printed hydrogel actuators
A soft 3D-printed hydrogel actuator regulates temperature via autonomic perspiration enabled by thermomechanical response of base materials.
- An organosynthetic dynamic heart model with enhanced biomimicry guided by cardiac diffusion tensor imaging
A biohybrid soft robotic heart mimics myocardial architecture and motion while preserving explanted intracardiac structures.
- A bioinspired Separated Flow wing provides turbulence resilience and aerodynamic efficiency for miniature drones
A bioinspired wing generates lift that is robust to gusts and freestream turbulence without sacrificing flight duration.
- Human adipose–derived mesenchymal stem cell–based medical microrobot system for knee cartilage regeneration in vivo
A human stem cell–based microrobot system for knee cartilage regeneration was designed with consideration of clinical trials.
- Soft biohybrid morphing wings with feathers underactuated by wrist and finger motion
A soft biohybrid aerial robot with underactuated feathers shows how birds can steer by morphing their wings with wrists and fingers.
About The Cover
ONLINE COVER Winging It. Bioinspired robotics translates fundamental biological principles into engineering design rules to create robots that perform like natural systems. Inspired by how birds demonstrate agile and efficient flight through wing morphing, Chang et al. studied the skeletal and feather kinematics of the common pigeon to develop a soft biohybrid aerial robot, called PigeonBot, with underactuated feathers that can steer by morphing its wings with wrist and finger joints. This month's cover is a composite image showing the range of PigeonBot's wing morphing—the wings of this biohybrid system are composed of real pigeon feathers. [CREDIT: ERIC CHANG/STANFORD UNIVERSITY]
