Bio-Inspired Robotics

Modern robotic technologies have enabled robots to operate in a variety of unstructured and dynamically-changing environments, in addition to traditional structured environments. Robots have, thus, become an important element in our everyday lives. One key approach to develop such intelligent and autonomous robots is to draw inspiration from biological systems. Biological structure, mechanisms, and underlying principles have the potential to provide new ideas to support the improvement of conventional robotic designs and control. Such biological principles usually originate from animal or even plant models, for robots, which can sense, think, walk, swim, crawl, jump or even fly. Thus, it is believed that these bio-inspired methods are becoming increasingly important in the face of complex applications. Bio-inspired robotics is leading to the study of innovative structures and computing with sensory–motor coordination and learning to achieve intelligence, flexibility, stability, and adaptation for emergent robotic applications, such as manipulation, learning, and control. This Special Issue invites original papers of innovative ideas and concepts, new discoveries and improvements, and novel applications and business models relevant to the selected topics of ``Bio-Inspired Robotics''. Bio-Inspired Robotics is a broad topic and an ongoing expanding field. This Special Issue collates 30 papers that address some of the important challenges and opportunities in this broad and expanding field

Bio-inspired robotic control in underactuation: principles for energy efficacy, dynamic compliance interactions and adaptability.

Biological systems achieve energy efficient and adaptive behaviours through extensive autologous and exogenous compliant interactions. Active dynamic compliances are created and enhanced from musculoskeletal system (joint-space) to external environment (task-space) amongst the underactuated motions. Underactuated systems with viscoelastic property are similar to these biological systems, in that their self-organisation and overall tasks must be achieved by coordinating the subsystems and dynamically interacting with the environment. One important question to raise is: How can we design control systems to achieve efficient locomotion, while adapt to dynamic conditions as the living systems do? In this thesis, a trajectory planning algorithm is developed for underactuated microrobotic systems with bio-inspired self-propulsion and viscoelastic property to achieve synchronized motion in an energy efficient, adaptive and analysable manner. The geometry of the state space of the systems is explicitly utilized, such that a synchronization of the generalized coordinates is achieved in terms of geometric relations along the desired motion trajectory. As a result, the internal dynamics complexity is sufficiently reduced, the dynamic couplings are explicitly characterised, and then the underactuated dynamics are projected onto a hyper-manifold. Following such a reduction and characterization, we arrive at mappings of system compliance and integrable second-order dynamics with the passive degrees of freedom. As such, the issue of trajectory planning is converted into convenient nonlinear geometric analysis and optimal trajectory parameterization. Solutions of the reduced dynamics and the geometric relations can be obtained through an optimal motion trajectory generator. Theoretical background of the proposed approach is presented with rigorous analysis and developed in detail for a particular example. Experimental studies are conducted to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. Towards compliance interactions with the environment, accurate modelling or prediction of nonlinear friction forces is a nontrivial whilst challenging task. Frictional instabilities are typically required to be eliminated or compensated through efficiently designed controllers. In this work, a prediction and analysis framework is designed for the self-propelled vibro-driven system, whose locomotion greatly relies on the dynamic interactions with the nonlinear frictions. This thesis proposes a combined physics-based and analytical-based approach, in a manner that non-reversible characteristic for static friction, presliding as well as pure sliding regimes are revealed, and the frictional limit boundaries are identified. Nonlinear dynamic analysis and simulation results demonstrate good captions of experimentally observed frictional characteristics, quenching of friction-induced vibrations and satisfaction of energy requirements. The thesis also performs elaborative studies on trajectory tracking. Control schemes are designed and extended for a class of underactuated systems with concrete considerations on uncertainties and disturbances. They include a collocated partial feedback control scheme, and an adaptive variable structure control scheme with an elaborately designed auxiliary control variable. Generically, adaptive control schemes using neural networks are designed to ensure trajectory tracking. Theoretical background of these methods is presented with rigorous analysis and developed in detail for particular examples. The schemes promote the utilization of linear filters in the control input to improve the system robustness. Asymptotic stability and convergence of time-varying reference trajectories for the system dynamics are shown by means of Lyapunov synthesis

A Future for Energy Innovation

Energise! shifts debate on energy/climate away from the usual opponents – climate sceptics vs those who focus on consumer demand and the consumer creation of CO2. Instead, it begins from the world’s need for much more cheap and clean energy. Energise! also focuses on the sociology of energy, analysing concepts such as consumer greed, ‘addiction’ to oil, uncertainty in climate science, the Precautionary Principle and resource wars.People shouldn't feel guilty about your carbon footprint. The way to deal with global warming is to build a bigger, better energy supply – not to change behaviour at home and in the car. People are not addicted to energy, and there's still time to fix global warming without downgrading lifestyles

Bowdoin Orient v.136, no.1-25 (2006-2007)

https://digitalcommons.bowdoin.edu/bowdoinorient-2000s/1007/thumbnail.jp

Competitiveness of agro-food and environmental economy

The main goal of the 'Competitiveness of agro-food and environmental economy’ (CAFEE`12), was to debate new ideas contained in scientifically research in the field of rural development, agro-food economy, agro-food system, ecological performance etc. carried out by academicians, scientists and professionals. The Conference was held in November, 8-10, 2012, to the Faculty of Agro-food and Environmental Economics, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania. The conference proceedings volume includes all the draft papers accepted and published in the proceedings of The 1st International Conference 'Competitiveness of agro-food and Environmental economy’ (CAFEE`12), organized by Faculty of Agro-Food and Environmental Economics and Research Center of Regional Analysis and Policies from The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, in partnership with Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics, National Research Institute, Poland, St James's Business School(UK), University of Verona – Italy, Institute of Agricultural Economics- Serbia, Faculty of Agriculture Zemun- Serbia, Institute of Agricultural Economics, Romanian Academy, Institute of Research for Agricultural Economics and Rural Development, Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences – Romania and Faculty of Economic Sciences, Petroleum and Gas University of Ploiesti Romania

Competitiveness of agro-food and environmental economy

The main goal of the 'Competitiveness of agro-food and environmental economy’ (CAFEE`12), was to debate new ideas contained in scientifically research in the field of rural development, agro-food economy, agro-food system, ecological performance etc. carried out by academicians, scientists and professionals. The Conference was held in November, 8-10, 2012, to the Faculty of Agro-food and Environmental Economics, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania. The conference proceedings volume includes all the draft papers accepted and published in the proceedings of The 1st International Conference 'Competitiveness of agro-food and Environmental economy’ (CAFEE`12), organized by Faculty of Agro-Food and Environmental Economics and Research Center of Regional Analysis and Policies from The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, in partnership with Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics, National Research Institute, Poland, St James's Business School(UK), University of Verona – Italy, Institute of Agricultural Economics- Serbia, Faculty of Agriculture Zemun- Serbia, Institute of Agricultural Economics, Romanian Academy, Institute of Research for Agricultural Economics and Rural Development, Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences – Romania and Faculty of Economic Sciences, Petroleum and Gas University of Ploiesti Romania