engineering reference: Festo robotics - Bionic Learning Network,

Festo is a German industrial control and automation company based in Esslingen, Germany. Their main interest is to be an engineering driven company that research, produce and sells pneumatic and electric actuators primarily to the automation industry. It was founded in 1925 by Albert Fezer and Gottlieb Stoll. Initially, the company manufactured wood cutting tools and later diversified into the automation industry. Much later since the start of the 1990s, at Festo started to deal intensively with the bionics field. The launch of the Bionic Learning Network in 2006 heralded the start of a dynamic and open exchange of ideas with well-known universities, institutes and development companies.
The core team consists of engineers and designers, biologists and students from Festo. Bionic Learning Network works closely with specialists from other departments as well as external partners from all over the world. This open, interdisciplinary teamwork offers new perspectives and inspiration for industrial applications and possible future standard products. (more at: https://www.festo.com/group/en/cms/10156.htm )

Nature is our best engineer, and the finest robots are the ones that mimic it. Festo, a multinational robotics firm based in Germany, has made some of the most amazing biologically inspired robots out there. In one of our previous posts, "Festo's Extraordinary Robots That Mimic Biology I", you have seen air-penguins and mechanical elephant-arms but these are just few of Festo creations. In these videos, the air-ray, the bionic air-fish, the aqua-jelly, and more are shown. Festo is one of the world leaders in automation, with millions of parts installed in factories all over the globe. Their animal inspired robots are created by the efforts of their Bionic Learning Network. This collection of research groups from academia and industry is part advanced research initiative, part education organization (The Guardian).

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Some examples of fine design and engeneering:

With the bionic butterflies, for the first time Festo combines the ultralight construction of artificial insects with collision-free flying behaviour in a collective. For coordination purposes, the eMotionButterflies make use of a guidance and monitoring system, which could be used in the networked factory of the future.

With the BionicOpter, Festo has technically mastered the highly complex flight characteristics of the dragonfly. Just like its model in nature, this ultralight flying object can fly in all directions, hover in mid-air and glide without beating its wings.

For the BionicANTs, Festo has not only transferred the delicate anatomy of ants, but also their cooperative behaviour to the world of technology. Like their natural role models, they communicate with each other and work together according to clear rules to solve a common task.

Festo presents a bionic gripper called the OctopusGripper, which is derived from an octopus tentacle. Not only can the flexible silicone structure grip softly and securely – it also fulfils the strict criteria of a soft robotics component.

The ExoHand from Festo -- an active manual orthosis with sensitive fingers
The ExoHand from Festo is an exoskeleton that can be worn like a glove. The fingers can be actively moved and their strength amplified; the operator's hand movements are registered and transmitted to the robotic hand in real time.

more videos from Festo - Bionic Learning Network youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHn6sgbOb_cq_oGtyGv9E8g