Biomimetics in Agri-Food: From Preliminary Design to Field Applications

Nature has evolved diverse and versatile structures and mechanisms to deal with variations and uncertainties in the environment. This includes variations in shape, size, mechanical properties, and other factors that can affect their ability to survive and thrive in different environments. Agriculture is also subject to high variations and uncertainties, making it a complex and challenging task. Traditional agricultural machinery often lacks the versatility to deal with these challenges effectively, resulting in lower productivity and efficiency. By drawing inspiration from the complex and adaptable structures found in nature, engineers can develop versatile robots and machines that can address these challenges. For example, soft robots can adapt to the shape and size of different crops, improving precision and accuracy in tasks such as planting and harvesting. Other examples include robots that can mimic animal and plant behaviors to move efficiently over and through the soil to measure nutrient availability, sensory organs to capture information on crops, or peculiar adhesion mechanisms to improve the manipulation in harvesting.

This Special Issue calls for contributions for the application in the agri-food field to discuss to what extent the bio-inspired approach can offer favorable impacts in this fast-growing and high-demanding field. We encourage the submission of experimental papers, practical applications, and reviews on the specific aspects of the agri-food field.

Editors:

Dr. Francesco Visentin
Prof. Dr. Junzhi Yu
Dr. Ali Leylavi Shoushtari

Manuscript Submission Information:

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for the submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Biomimetics is an international peer-reviewed open-access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

• hybrid design

• soft robotics

• bio-inspired grippers

• bio-inspired locomotion

• bio-inspired sensing and perception

• nature-inspired planning and control

• biomimetic design