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Machine properties optimized in the mesoscale size regime include improved heat transfer, macroscopic electrostatic actuation, and chemical mixing. This manuscript describes the origin of these advantages along with the development of several energy-efficient meso-machines that exploit these properties. The advantages of direct-write mesoscale electronics are also presented. These include the ability to place the electronics on the physical structure of a machine to improve performance, reduce size and weight, and enhance durability.

The unique performance ofbiological systems across a wide spectrum of phylogenetic species has historically provided inspirations for roboticists in new designs and fabrication ofnew robotic platforms. Ofparticular interest to a number of important applications is to create dynamic robots able to adapt to a change in their world, unplanned events that are sometimes unexpected, and sometimes unstable, harsh conditions. It is likely that the exploring dynamics in biological systems will continue to provide rich solutions to attaining robots capable of more complex tasks for this purpose. This is because the long-term design process of evolution utilizes a natural selection process that responds to such changes. Recently, there have been significant advances across a number of interdisciplinary efforts that have generated new capabilities in biorobotics. Whole body dynamics that capture the force dynamics and functional stability oflegged systems over rough terrain have been elucidated and applied in legged robotic systems. Exploring the force dynamics of flapping winged insect flight has provided key discoveries and enabled the fabrication ofnew micro air vehicles. New classes ofmaterials are being developed that emulate the ability ofnatural muscle, capturing the compliant and soft subtle movement and performance of biological appendages. In addition, classes ofnew multifunctional materials are being developed to enable the design ofbiorobotics with the structural and functional efficiency of living organisms. Optical flow and other sensors based on the principles of invertebrate vision have been implemented on robotic platforms for autonomous robotic guidance and control. These fundamental advances have resulted in the emergence of a new generation of bioinspired dynamic robots which show significant performance improvements in early prototype testing and that could someday be useful in a number of significant applications such as search and rescue and entertainment. a arudolph(a)darpa.mil; phone 1-703-696-2240;

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