Front Cover --; Contents --; Preface --; Acknowledgments --; Editor --; Contributors --; Chapter 1: Introduction: Nature as a Source of Inspiring Innovation --; Chapter 2: Artificial Senses and Organs: Natural Mechanisms and Biomimetic Devices --; Chapter 3: Biomimicry at the Cell-Material Interface --; Chapter 4: Multiscale Modeling of Plant Cell Wall Architecture and Tissue Mechanics for Biomimetic Applications --; Chapter 5: Biomimetic Composites --; Chapter 6: Electroactive Polymer Actuators as Artificial Muscles --; Chapter 7: Refreshable Braille Displays Actuated by Electroactive Polymers --; Chapter 8: Biological Optics --; Chapter 9: Biomimicry of the Ultimate Optical Device-The Plant --; Chapter 10: Biologically Inspired Design: A Tool for Interdisciplinary Education --; Chapter 11: Self-Reproducing Machines and Manufacturing Processes --; Chapter 12: Biomimetic Products --; Chapter 13: Biomimetics for Medical Implants --; Chapter 14: Application of Biomimetics in the Design of Medical Devices --; Chapter 15: Affective Robotics: Human Motion and Behavioral Inspiration for Safe Cooperation between Humans and Humanoid Assistive Robots --; Chapter 16: Humanlike Robots-Capabilities, Potential, and Challenges --; Chapter 17: Biomimetic Swimmer Inspired by the Manta Ray --; Chapter 18: Biomimetics and Flying Technology --; Chapter 19: The Biomimetic Process in Artistic Creation --; Chapter 20: Biomimetics-Reality, Challenges, and Outlook --; Back Cover.
Mimicking nature -- from science fiction to engineering reality Humans have always looked to nature's inventions as a source of inspiration. The observation of flying birds and insects leads to innovations in aeronautics. Collision avoidance sensors mimic the whiskers of rodents. Optimization algorithms are based on survival of the fittest, the seed-picking process of pigeons, or the behavior of ant colonies. In recent years these efforts have become more intensive, with researchers seeking rules, concepts, and principles of biology to inspire new possibilities in materials, mechanisms, algori.