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Combining different features inspired by biological systems is necessary to obtain uncommon and unique multifunctional biologically inspired conceptual designs. The Expandable Domain Integrated Design (xDID) model is proposed to facilitate the multifunctional concept generation process. The xDID model extends the previously defined Domain Integrated Design (DID) method. The xDID model classifies biological features by their feature characteristics taken from various case-based bio-inspired design examples into their respective geometric designations called domains. The classified biological features are mapped to the respective plant and animal tissues from which they originate. Furthermore, the paper proposes a representation of the functions exhibited by the biological features at the embodiment level as a combination of the integrated structure (multiscale) and the structural strategy associated with the integrated structure. The xDID model is validated using three multifunctional bio-inspired design case studies at the end of the paper.

Self‐adaptive, easy‐to‐control, and low‐cost gripper devices are indispensable in manufacturing and agriculture. However, the existing soft grippers cannot provide high response speed and firm grasping. Inspired by the natural, active entanglement behaviors of animals and plants, a rapid, cilia‐like soft gripper design is proposed for grasping various objects via envelopes formed by the self‐entanglement of multiple hollowed silicone tubes. The basic entanglement unit comprises a hollow, soft silicone tube with an actuation wire inside, which leads to compression and entanglement by fixing the front of the tube and drawing the actuation wire. Using multiple entanglement units enables sufficient mechanical interlocking between deformed tubes and grasped objects, avoiding the reliance on contact force control. Experimental results demonstrate that the developed soft gripper, with a cost lower than one dollar, can complete adaptive grasping within 1 s. The grasping success rate can reach 100% in grasping common irregular‐shaped daily objects within the effective grasping range of the entanglement units. The design paves the way for harnessing the potential of embodied intelligence in soft robots, enabling fast and universal grasping. Inspired by natural entanglement, a lightweight, low‐cost soft gripper is developed using wire‐actuated silicone tubes. Rapid self‐entanglement enables adaptive grasping of diverse objects without the need for sensors or force feedback. Its simplicity and robustness enable effective use on mobile platforms, such as drones and underwater systems, achieving a success rate of nearly 100% in grasping irregular objects within range.

Micromanipulation robots hold immense promise for biomedical applications, yet they remain fundamentally limited by three persistent challenges: cross‐scale target heterogeneity, spatially constrained workspaces, and integrated multimodal operation requirements. Here, a soft micromanipulation robot (SMR) capable of omnidirectional, micrometer‐precision manipulation via a hollow multi‐notch agonist‐antagonist mechanism is presented. Combining ± 180° bending and 360° rotation for full‐angle operation, this bio‐inspired design achieves 14 µm positioning accuracy, enabling reliable handling of single‐cell‐sized objects. The SMR adapts in situ to sensitive biosamples and limited workspaces, supporting diverse manipulation modes including aspiration, transfer, programmable assembly, targeted microinjection, and localized cutting of biospecimens. To evaluate biomedical applicability, an assembly experiment with human kidney cell spheres, which is essential for establishing co‐culture models in new drug development is designed. The SMR successfully aspirated, transferred, and precisely positioned multiple assembloids onto ring‐shaped biochips, achieving programmable assembly within limited workspaces. The SMR has the potential to be a flexible and adaptable platform for performing delicate operations in various biomedical scenarios, such as in vitro modeling, drug testing, and microscale surgery. This manuscript proposes a soft micromanipulator robot (SMR) for “full‐angle” precision biomedical operations. Bio‐inspired SMR achieves omnidirectional motion, micrometer precision, and multimodal capabilities including aspiration, transfer, rotation, assembly, injection, and cutting. It adapts to perform diverse operations on biological targets across scales within limited spaces, enabling extensive possibilities for in vitro modeling, drug testing, and microscale surgery applications.

The human muscle bundle generates versatile movements with synchronous neurosensory, enabling human to undertake complex tasks, which inspires researches into functional integration of motions and sensing in actuators for robots. Although soft actuators have developed diverse motion capabilities utilizing the inherent compliance, the simultaneous‐sensing approaches typically involve adding sensing components or embedding certain‐signal‐field substrates, resulting in structural complexity and discrepant deformations between the actuation parts with high‐dimensional motions and the sensing parts with heterogeneous stiffnesses. Inspired by the muscle‐bundle multifiber mechanism, a multicavity functional integration (McFI) approach is proposed for soft pneumatic actuators to simultaneously realize multidimensional motions and sensing by separating and coordinating active and passive cavities. A bio‐inspired interweaving foldable endomysium (BIFE) is introduced to construct and reinforce the multicavity chamber with optimized purposive foldability, enabling 3D printing single‐material fabrication. Performing elongation, contraction, and bidirectional bending, the McFI actuator senses its spatial position, orientation, and axial force, based on the kinematic and sensing models built on multi‐cavity pressures. Two McFI‐actuator‐driven robots are built: a soft crawling robot with path reconstruction and a narrow‐maneuverable soft gripper with object exteroception, validating the practicality in stand‐alone use of the actuator and the potential for intelligent soft robotic innovation of the McFI approach. Inspired by the muscle‐bundle multifiber mechanism, the multicavity functional integration (McFI) approach is proposed for soft pneumatic actuators to simultaneously realize multidimensional motions and sensing, by separating and coordinating active and passive cavities. The multicavity structure is constructed and reinforced by the bio‐inspired interweaving foldable endomysium (BIFE). This approach is validated by the trajectory reconstruction crawler and the exteroception gripper.

A detailed acquisition, analysis, and representation of biological systems exhibiting different functions is required to develop unique bio-inspired multifunctional conceptual designs and methods. This paper presents BIKAS: Bio-inspired Knowledge Acquisition and Simulacrum, a knowledge database of biological systems exhibiting various functionalities, developed based on case-based bio-inspired examples from literature. The knowledge database represents the biological features, their characteristics, and the function exhibited by the biological feature as a combination of its integrated structure and structural strategy. Furthermore, this knowledge database is utilized by the Expandable Domain Integrated Design (xDID) model that works on classifying, mapping, and representing biological features into their respective geometric designations called Domains. The combination of features from the Domains results in the generation of multifunctional conceptual designs. In addition, Meta-level design factors are proposed to aid designers in filtering the biological features and their respective functions having a similar structural strategy, thus aiding designers in rapidly selecting and emulating biological functions.

The skeletons of sharks and rays, fashioned from cartilage, and armored by a veneer of mineralized tiles (tesserae) present a mathematical challenge: How can the continuous covering be maintained as the skeleton expands? This study, using microCT and custom visual data analyses of growing stingray skeletons, systematically examines tessellation patterns and morphologies of the many thousand interacting tesserae covering the hyomandibula (a skeletal element critical to feeding), over a two‐fold developmental change in hyomandibula length. The number of tesserae remains surprisingly constant, even as the hyomandibula expands isometrically, with all hyomandibulae displaying self‐similar distributions of tesserae shapes/sizes. Although the distribution of tesserae geometries largely agrees with the rules for polyhedra tiling of complex surfaces—dominated by hexagons and a minor fraction of pentagons and heptagons, but very few other polygons—the agreement with Euler's classic mathematical laws is not perfect. Contrary to the assumed uniform growth rate (which is shown would create geometric incompatibilities), larger tesserae grow faster to accommodate skeletal expansion. It is hypothesized that this local regulation of global system complexity is driven by tension (from cartilaginous core expansion) in the fibers connecting tesserae, with strain‐responsive cells orchestrating local mineral apposition. Mineralized tiles (tesserae) armor stingray skeletal cartilage, somehow growing throughout life without disrupting the tessellation. It is discovered that tesserae size distributions remain strikingly self‐similar across ontogeny. This implies growth isn't uniform, but rather tile geometry dictates mineral apposition in growing tesserae. This can be governed by sensation of tensions in organic fibers connecting neighboring tiles, as the cartilage core expands.

The implementation of multimodal motion ensures the stable operation in complex terrain environments, thus providing an effective guarantee for system performance. The crawling‐jumping robot has the ability to navigate in various road conditions utilizing different modes of movement. However, the mobility of the current multimodal jumping robots remains somewhat constrained by their jumping capability and the recovery time after each jump. Drawing inspiration from the energy‐storage jumping mechanism of jumping beetles, a tuneable multimodal jumping robot (Tumro) capable of executing multimodal movements including wheeled locomotion and ground‐based jumping, which can achieve a jump height of up to 3 m and swiftly recover its wheeled crawling state without requiring posture correction post‐jump, is presented. Through a specific structural design, the robot can storage energy and switch motions to jump in the desired direction based on the preset angle according to actual demand. The jumping process is thoroughly analyzed, and the kinematics and dynamics models are derived in meticulous detail. In addition, the performance of the robot is comprehensively assessed from aspects of wheel action versus vertical jump capability, power consumption, and endurance across various motion modes. The simulation scene experiment demonstrates the robot's exceptional jumping capability and efficient wheeled mobility. The proposed adjustable multimodal jumping robot (Tumro) draws inspiration from the energy‐storage jumping mechanism of the jumping beetle. It is capable of executing various modes of movement, including wheel motion and ground jumping. With a maximum jumping height of 3.0 m, Tumro can swiftly regain its wheeled crawling state without requiring post‐jump posture correction.

Wave‐based mechanisms inspired by traveling wave locomotion in animals have shown great potential use in robots to navigate unstructured environments. Herein, the dual actuator wave‐like navigator (DAWN), a multisurface robot employing two actuated helical wave generators to produce continuous traveling waves on flexible link tracks enclosed in elastomer skins, is presented. These skins provide mechanical resilience, enhanced friction, and adaptability on uneven terrain. The robot demonstrates steering and controlled locomotion on flat surfaces, inclines, and declines. To characterize the robot, locomotion tests are performed on plywood, PMMA, and sand, achieving average linear speeds of 16.00, 15.76, and 1.63 mm s−1, respectively. A key innovation is cyclic pneumatic actuation of the skins with actuation frequencies of 0.5 and 0.9 Hz, improving locomotion performance on sand to 2.22 and 2.70 mm s−1. DAWN's capability to move on sand, grass, gravel, and wet soil is also demonstrated. Its modular design enables plug‐and‐play assembly of components including helical wave generators, flexible link tracks, and elastomer skins, allowing for easy maintenance, modification, and replacements. Potential applications include navigation in complex terrains for search and rescue, inspection, and environmental monitoring. Inspired by snails and earthworms, dual actuator wave‐like navigator (DAWN) is a soft, untethered robot that crawls using wave‐like motion generated by dual helical actuators wrapped in soft elastomer skins. Its modular design and cyclic pneumatic skin actuation improve performance across challenging terrains like sand, grass, and gravel. DAWN demonstrates effective crawling, turning, and terrain adaptability—offering promise for real‐world exploration and environmental tasks.

Cuttlefish, a unique group of marine mollusks, produces an internal biomineralized shell, known as cuttlebone, which is an ultra-lightweight cellular structure (porosity, ∼93 vol%) used as the animal’s hard buoyancy tank. Although cuttlebone is primarily composed of a brittle mineral, aragonite, the structure is highly damage tolerant and can withstand water pressure of about 20 atmospheres (atm) for the species Sepia officinalis. Currently, our knowledge on the structural origins for cuttlebone’s remarkable mechanical performance is limited. Combining quantitative three-dimensional (3D) structural characterization, four-dimensional (4D) mechanical analysis, digital image correlation, and parametric simulations, here we reveal that the characteristic chambered “wall–septa” microstructure of cuttlebone, drastically distinct from other natural or engineering cellular solids, allows for simultaneous high specific stiffness (8.4 MN·m/kg) and energy absorption (4.4 kJ/kg) upon loading. We demonstrate that the vertical walls in the chambered cuttlebone microstructure have evolved an optimal waviness gradient, which leads to compression-dominant deformation and asymmetric wall fracture, accomplishing both high stiffness and high energy absorption. Moreover, the distribution of walls is found to reduce stress concentrationswithin the horizontal septa, facilitating a larger chamber crushing stress and a more significant densification. The design strategies revealed here can provide important lessons for the development of low-density, stiff, and damage-tolerant cellular ceramics.

A new, bio-inspired printed monopole antenna (PMA) model is applied to monitor partial discharge (PD) activity in high voltage insulating systems. An optimized sensor was obtained by designing a PMA in accordance with the characteristics of the electromagnetic signal produced by PD. An ultra-wideband (UWB) antenna was obtained by applying the truncated ground plane technique. The patch geometry was bio-inspired by that of the Inga Marginata leaf, resulting in a significant reduction in size. To verify the operating frequency and gain of the PMA, measurements were carried out in an anechoic chamber. The results show that the antenna operating bandwidth covers most of the frequency range of PD occurrence. Moreover, the antenna presented a good sensitivity (mean gain of 3.63 dBi). The antenna performance was evaluated through comparative results with the standard IEC 60270 method. For this purpose, simultaneous tests were carried out in a PD generator arrangement, composed by an oil cell with point-to-plane electrode configurations. The developed PMA can be classified as an optimized sensor for PD detection and suitable for substation application, since it is able to measure PD radiated signals with half the voltage levels obtained from the IEC method and is immune to corona discharges.