Tens of thousands of different animal species live on this planet, having survived for millions of years through adaptation and evolution, which has given them a vast variety of structures and functions. Biomechanical studies of animals swimming and flying can aid understanding of the mechanisms that enable them to move effectively and efficiently in fluids . Based on such understandings and analyses, we can aim to develop environmentally friendly machines that emulate these natu ral movements. The Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 agreed major treaties on biological diversity, addressing the comb ined issues of environmental protection and fair and equitable economic development. With regard to coastal environments, increasing biological diversity has begun to play an important role in reestablishing stable and sustainable ecosystems. This approach has begun to influence research into the behavior of aquatic species, as an understanding of the history of an individual aquatic species is indispensable in constructing an environmental assessment mod el that includes the physical, chemical, and biological effects of that species . From an engineering viewpoint, studying nature's biological diversity is an opportunity to reconsider mechanical systems that were systematically constructed in the wake of the Industrial Revolution. We have been accumulating knowledge of the sys tems inherent in biological creatures and using that knowledge to create new, envi ronmentally friendly technologies.

Provides a summary of the fluid dynamics of the locomotion of living organisms. Describes biological phenomena in detail from the swimming of bacteria and fish to the flying of insects and birds.

This book covers a wide range of animals from flagellated microorganisms to marine mammals. It follows "Bio-mechanisms of Animals in Swimming and Flying" published in 2004 including 11 chapters. This time, the book includes 31 chapters on the latest researches into natural autonomous systems and locomotion in both flying and swimming organisms. The area of sports science such as analysis and simulation of human swimming is newly added. The computational frameworks for the modeling, simulation and optimization of animals in swimming and flying demonstrate an important role in the progress of interdisciplinary work in the fields of biology and engineering.

From a mechanical perspective, an animal's shape and the topological connection of its organs are important factors in locomotion. This book describes the physical relationships between form, habitat, way of life, and movement in living creatures. It includes in-depth mechanical and mathematical analyses of the way in which creatures move about, and it also investigates dispersal modes of plants and animals within the framework of flying and swimming. The book is written from the viewpoint of mechanics, specifically fluid dynamics and flight dynamics, rather than from that of physiology and ecology. It will prove a useful reference for aeronautical and mechanical engineers as well as for biologists who use mechanical analyses in the study of behaviour, function, and locomotion.

Animal Locomotion: Physical Principles and Adaptations is a professional-level, state of the art review and reference summarizing the current understanding of macroscopic metazoan animal movement. The comparative biophysics, biomechanics and bioengineering of swimming, flying and terrestrial locomotion are placed in contemporary frameworks of biodiversity, evolutionary process, and modern research methods, including mathematical analysis. The intended primary audience is advanced-level students and researchers primarily interested in and trained in mathematics, physical sciences and engineering. Although not encyclopedic in its coverage, anyone interested in organismal biology, functional morphology, organ systems and ecological physiology, physiological ecology, molecular biology, molecular genetics and systems biology should find this book useful.

This book provides a complete overview of cutting-edge research on insect sex pheromones and pheromone communication systems. The coverage ranges from the chemistry, biosynthesis, and reception of sex pheromones to the control of odor-source searching behavior, and from molecules to the application of research findings to robotics. The book both summarizes the progress of studies conducted using Bombyx mori and several groups of moths and reviews sex pheromones of some non-lepidopteran insect groups of agricultural importance. Attention is drawn to recent findings on elaborate neural information processing in the brain in male moths and to the importance of olfactory receptors specifically tuned to sex pheromone molecules. Featuring contributions from leading experts on the topic, this book will be a unique and valuable resource for researchers and students in the fields of entomology, chemical ecology, insect physiology and biochemistry, evolution, biomimetics, and bioengineering. In addition to researchers, general insect lovers will find the book fascinating for its descriptions of the marvelous abilities of insects and the underlying mechanisms involved.

Through expanded intelligence, the use of robotics has fundamentally transformed the business industry. Providing successful techniques in robotic design allows for increased autonomous mobility, which leads to a greater productivity and production level. Rapid Automation: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications provides innovative insights into the state-of-the-art technologies in the design and development of robotics and their real-world applications in business processes. Highlighting a range of topics such as workflow automation tools, human-computer interaction, and swarm robotics, this multi-volume book is ideally designed for computer engineers, business managers, robotic developers, business and IT professionals, academicians, and researchers.

Biomimetics is an innovative paradigm shift based on biodiversity for sustainability. Biodiversity is not only the result of evolutionary adaption but also the optimized solution of an epic combinatorial chemistry for sustainability, because the diversity has been acquired by biological processes and technology, including production processes, operating principles, and control systems, all of which differ from human technology. In the recent decades, biomimetics has gained a great deal of industrial interest because of its unique solutions for engineering problems. In this book, researchers have contributed cutting-edge results from the viewpoint of two types of industrial applications of biomimetics. The first type starts with engineering tasks to solve an engineering problem using biomimetics, while the other starts with the knowledge of biology and its application to engineering fields. This book discusses both approaches. Edited by Profs. Masatsugu Shimomura and Akihiro Miyauchi, two prominent nanotechnology researchers, this book will appeal to advanced undergraduate- and graduate-level students of biology, chemistry, physics, and engineering and to researchers working in the areas of mechanics, optical devices, glue materials, sensor devices, and SEM observation of living matter.

Artificial intelligence, or AI, is a cross-disciplinary approach to understanding, modeling, and creating intelligence of various forms. It is a critical branch of cognitive science, and its influence is increasingly being felt in other areas, including the humanities. AI applications are transforming the way we interact with each other and with our environment, and work in artificially modeling intelligence is offering new insights into the human mind and revealing new forms mentality can take. This volume of original essays presents the state of the art in AI, surveying the foundations of the discipline, major theories of mental architecture, the principal areas of research, and extensions of AI such as artificial life. With a focus on theory rather than technical and applied issues, the volume will be valuable not only to people working in AI, but also to those in other disciplines wanting an authoritative and up-to-date introduction to the field.

Biomechanics covers a wide field such as organ mechanics, tissue mechanics, cell mechanics to molecular mechanics. At the 6th World Congress of Biomechanics WCB 2010 in Singapore, authors presented the largest experimental studies, technologies and equipment. Special emphasis was placed on state-of-the-art technology and medical applications. This volume presents the Proceedings of the 6th WCB 2010 which was hold in conjunction with 14th International Conference on Biomedical Engineering (ICBME) & 5th Asia Pacific Conference on Biomechanics (APBiomech). The peer reviewed scientific papers are arranged in the six themes Organ Mechanics, Tissue Mechanics, Cell Mechanics, Molecular Mechanics, Materials, Tools, Devices & Techniques, Special Topics.