Abstract: Can Nature improve technology? What is the link between living systems and robots?
giving way to a series of innovative robotic solutions assisting and supporting today’s society. A bioinspired approach needs a deep understanding of the selected biological models in order to extract the key features relevantRobots today are expected to operate in a variety of scenarios, being able to cope with uncertain situations and to react quickly to changes in the environment. In this scenario a strong relationship between Nature and technology plays a major role, with the winning approach of evaluating natural systems to abstract principles for new designs. Bioinspired soft robotics is a worldwide known paradigm to develop new solutions for science and technology, for designing robotic systems able to imitate the biological counterpart in some specific functions. Such biological principles traditionally originate from animal models for robots that can walk, swim, crawl, or fly. Recently, engineers, material and computer scientists have also increased their interest in plants, as a new model for developing robots and ICT solutions. In this talk I will present some scientific and technological challenges coming from both animals and plants. I will compare ideas, biological features, and technological translations coming from these two Kingdoms and related to areas of interest in robotics: movement, sensing and control.