Beyond biomimicry: the evolution of bioinspired robotics toward biohybrid and environmentally integrated systems

Bioinspired robotics is progressively moving beyond the imitation of biological forms toward systems that exploit biological functions, integrate living components, and interact with natural environments. This Special Issue captures this evolution through contributions spanning functional biomimetics, biohybrid robotics, environmentally powered systems, collective behaviors, and the ethical implications of integrating living organisms into engineered platforms. These works highlight an emerging transition from nature as a source of design principles toward a deeper integration of biological and environmental processes within robotic systems, outlining new directions for adaptive, sustainable, and responsible robotics.