Editorial: Living machines: from biological models to soft machines

Abstract

Transferring the principles of living nature into living machines has preoccupied philosophers and scientists for more than 2000 years and inspired great minds like Leonardo Da Vinci to deliver outstanding inventions. In the last century, the study of nature and living organisms has led to innovations inspired by nature in a variety of different fields, such as engineer ing, architecture, materials sciences, medical technol ogy and robotics. The most prominent examples for commonly used bioinspired developments are Velcro (fastening inspired by burs hooks) and self-cleaning paints and coatings based on the principles of lotus plant leaves