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Biomimetics involves designing synthetic devices that mimic nature in form and/or function. Utilizing biomimetics is extremely useful because it typically takes advantage of the fact that in nature functions evolve in unison, so components are multifunctional. This contrasts designs of synthetic systems, in which functions are isolated, such that each component has a single function.

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Robert Michelson and his team have studied animals in the attempt to make more efficient fliers. Two products of his entomopter research are shown at:
http://avdil.gtri.gatech.edu/RCM/RCM/Entomopter/EntomopterProject.html

The Micromechanical Flying Insect Project focuses on mimicking housefly flight:
http://robotics.eecs.berkeley.edu/~ronf/mfi.html

Stanford has several different robots that are biomimetic. Some crawl, some swim, and some fly:
http://www-cdr.stanford.edu/biomimetics/

UC Berkeley's polypedal lab shows biomimetic robots that mimic crabs, beetles, cockroaches, and other critters:
http://polypedal.berkeley.edu/Bioinspire/Robotics.html

At UC Berkeley's Dickinson Lab, you can view QuickTime movies showing robot wing movement for a house fly mimic:
http://socrates.berkeley.edu/~flymanmd/

Some graphics of models can be found at:
http://www.nurseminerva.co.uk/adapt/flapping1.htm

Designs, videos, and models of ornithopters, that mimic animal flight can be found at
http://www.catskill.net/evolution/flight/freefly/freefly.html and
http://www.catskill.net/evolution/flight/freebird/default.htm

If you want to come up with your own biomimetic flight strategy, you can witness animal flight motion at:
http://www.nasm.si.edu/galleries/gal109/NEWHTF/HTF400.HTM (goose animation) and
http://www.math.nyu.edu/AML/fly.html (fly QuickTime movie)
http://hannover.park.org/Canada/Museum/insects/flight/flapping.html (frame-by-frame of dragonfly / damselfly, locust, butterfly, and beetle)

For details about insect flight muscles, check out:
http://www.humboldt.edu/~wva1/images%20muscle2/insect_flight_muscle.gif as well as
http://hannover.park.org/Canada/Museum/insects/evolution/muscles.html#muscles and
http://hannover.park.org/Canada/Museum/insects/evolution/indirect.html#indirectThis Canadian Museum web site also has information on how wings fold.

The following graphics show an airfoil moving similar to a wing or fin, using actuators and smart materials.

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