Design, fabrication and applications of biomimetic sensors in biorobotics

The aim of this paper is to discuss an ideal design procedure for biologically-inspired artificial sensors. The main steps of this procedure are the following: (1) analysis of force and position sensors in animals and humans; (2) design and implementation of biologically-inspired sensors in innovative biorobotic and biomechatronic systems (e.g., antropomorphic robots, animaloids, and prostheses). According to this sequence, the first part of the paper is dedicated to the presentation of some features of force and motion sensors in animals and humans. Then, some applications of biologically-inspired systems to sense force and position in different robots are illustrated and discussed.