Learning from Nature: A Review on Biological Gripping Principles and Their Application to Robotics

Abstract

<div>The process of biological evolution has resulted in a wide variety of forms,</div><div>functions and strategies and this has led to distinct optimization of certain traits in</div><div>organisms. Technical adoption of some “inventions of nature” might be highly</div><div>beneficial for innovative developments in materials science and engineering through</div><div>biomimetic studies. One prominent field of biomimetic research is related to</div><div>prehension and manipulation mechanisms in robotics since these tasks are just as</div><div>ubiquitous in technical environments as they are in nature. Biological end effectors</div><div>with purposes ranging from simple locomotion, mating and prey catching up to delicate</div><div>object manipulation have been realized there, with innumerable, sometimes subtle</div><div>variants of structure and properties between them. Even though there is some coarse</div><div>biological classification of biological gripping devices, the latter represent certain core</div><div>principles, which evolved convergently due to the underlying basic physical</div><div>phenomena. This chapter aims to categorize the most common physical principles, their</div><div>advantages and shortcomings, and present a range of biological examples. Furthermore,</div><div>possible transfers of functional principles from biological systems into technical</div><div>environments are discussed.</div>