Biomimetics is a general description for engineering a process or system that mimics biology. The term emerged from biochemistry and applies to an infinite range of chemical and mechanical phenomena, from cellular processes to whole-organism functions. We define biomimetics as extracting principles from biology and applying them to man-made devices - particularly robots. We say two forces are driving the "new wave" of robotics. First, biological research has exposed a huge amount of biological process data that roboticists can apply to their work. Second, advances in low-cost, power-efficient computing systems allow researchers to create robots that mimic insect and sea creature adaptations to environmental niches. We say that roboticists can really put some of the lessons we're learning from biology to practice.