Space exploration is a major global focus, advancing knowledge and exploiting new resources beyond Earth. Bioinspired design—drawing principles from nature—offers systematic pathways to increase the capability and intelligence of space robots. Prior reviews have emphasized on-orbit manipulators or lunar rovers, while a comprehensive treatment across application domains has been limited. This review synthesizes bioinspired capability and intelligence for space exploration under varied environmental constraints. We highlight four domains: adhesion and grasping for on-orbit servicing; terrain-adaptive mobility on granular and rocky surfaces; exploration intelligence that couples animal-like sensing with decision strategies; and design methodologies for translating biological functions into robotic implementations. Representative applications include gecko-like dry adhesives for debris capture, beetle-inspired climbers for truss operations, sand-moving quadrupeds and mole-inspired burrowers for granular regolith access, and insect flapping-wing robots for flight under Martian conditions. By linking biological analogues to quantitative performance metrics, this review highlights how bioinspired strategies can significantly improve on-orbit inspection, planetary mobility, subsurface access, and autonomous decision-making. Framed by capability and intelligence, bioinspired approaches reveal how biological analogues translate into tangible performance gains for on-orbit inspection, servicing, and long-range planetary exploration.

Designing an optimal Coverage Path Planning (CPP) framework for autonomous aircraft cabin cleaning is a critical challenge due to the time-sensitive nature of aircraft turnaround operations. Conventional domestic cleaning robots struggle to adapt to the confined and irregular cabin layouts of commercial aircraft. To address this, the paper proposes a two-stage CPP approach utilizing the reconfigurable robot. In the first stage, the robot operates in its full-size configuration to efficiently clean open regions such as aisles and galleys, skipping hard-to-access seat rows to minimize total cleaning time. In the second stage, a Genetic Algorithm (GA)-based Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP) optimization process determines the optimal visiting sequence for the skipped areas, while simultaneously accounting for the robot's reconfiguration energy model. This integrated framework explicitly models the trade-off between coverage efficiency, energy consumption, and reconfiguration cost, ensuring that the robot autonomously selects the most energy-optimal path under operational constraints. The experiments incorporating airline procedures and cabin geometry demonstrate that the proposed approach significantly outperforms conventional CPP strategies in both coverage time and energy usage. The results validate the feasibility of deploying reconfigurable robotic systems for real-world autonomous aircraft cabin cleaning during turnaround operations.

Exploring lava caves on the Moon or Mars is beneficial for the construction of research base for long-term settlement. Current wheeled rovers face difficulties in entering inclined lava cave due to the limited adaptability to rocky terrain. Inspired by a lava lizard, this paper introduces a biomimetic creeping robot for traversing lunar level surface to cave ground. The robot spine can pitch to adapt to the slope terrain. The robot foot can adapt to lava rocks due to the graspable toes. A RealSense camera is equipped to enable the robot to recognize the angles of slopes when entering lava cave. Three regions of level surface, downslope and cave ground surface are modelled according to the properties of lunar cave. Combined with position and attitude information measured by LiDAR and an inertial measurement unit (IMU), this robot can adjust its gaits to adapt to the three regions. By evaluating the attitude and trajectory during traversing tests, it demonstrates that this robot can tranverse through lunar surface to cave ground. This research provides a biomimetic robot model for exploaring inclined lava cave.

Large-scale deep-sea mining relies on the prediction of the vertical lifting risers wear rate. The Archard Equation provides a theoretical solution for predicting sliding wear, but its application requires experimental calibration. In this paper, sliding friction experiments were conducted to measure the friction coefficient and wear volume of polymetallic nodules against different materials. Experimental results indicate that H62 brass exhibits the lowest sliding wear coefficient of (1.44 +/- 0.23) & times; 10_13, making it the optimal riser material. Given that the wear coefficient exhibits a saddle-shaped trend with increasing contact hardness, the riser-to-bulk material hardness ratio should be controlled between 6 and 8.4. Simulations using the Discrete Element Method (DEM) showed good agreement with experimental results, with a deviation of 8.43% in wear depth. This study discovered the non-linear change law of wear volume over time caused by the widening wear scar and based on force chain analysis, elucidated the stress distribution law along with the evolution characteristics and formation mechanism of the annular stress zone in PMN during reciprocating friction. These findings offer valuable for improving wear prediction of deep-sea mining equipment.

Wheeled rovers have been widely used to conduct surface exploration on the Moon or Mars. However, these rovers struggle to traverse granular steep slopes, thereby limiting potential exploration sites. Biomimetic legged robots offer superior mobility compared to wheeled rovers and are expected to enhance surface exploration capabilities. Nevertheless, current biomimetic robots exhibit limited climbing ability on steep slopes. Inspired by desert lizards that move efficiently on granular sand, this study proposes a biomimetic transition gait to enable a quadruped robot to creep from the ground onto slope surfaces. When ascending a slope, the robot elevates its trunk above the incline while ensuring that all feet maintain contact with the sand. During leg swings, the trunk remains attached to the slope to prevent slippage. Combined with active attitude adjustments, the robot can stably move from ground to slope on a Martian soil analog testbed. In experiments on level ground to 32 degrees of Mars slope analog, the robot demonstrated a transition speed of 2.83 mm/s, thereby advancing the capability of quadruped robots to explore uneven terrain on the Moon or Mars.

Connecting individual robots to form an inter-reconfigurable system with a flexible base size enhances the ability to access and cover areas for cleaning and maintenance tasks. Given that increased configuration complexity expands the search space dimension, an optimal routing solution ensuring efficiency is essential. In this paper, we present an inter-reconfigurable multi-robot system capable of adjusting the bases of its two units, along with an optimal path planning approach for confined spaces based on a modified informed rapidly-exploring random tree algorithm by a greedy set (RIRRT*). We validate the navigation of the proposed inter-reconfigurable platform using RIRRT* for four informed dimensional search spaces as a case study in both simulated and real-world environments. The proposed path planning method for the inter-reconfigurable system outperformed conventional strategies, achieving significant reduction in both execution time and energy utilization.

Purpose This paper aims to introduce a wheeled vehicle robot for adapting to the surface terrain of the 500-m diameter reflector of the FAST radio telescope in China. Design/methodology/approach By analyzing vehicles applied for different off-road environments, a six-wheeled architecture with a passive “triple-bogie” suspension is selected. A subscale model of the vehicle robot is designed, along with statics modeling and multibody simulations of the dynamics on simulated reflector panel surfaces. The slope- and step-climbing abilities of the subscale vehicle are discussed in accordance with numerical and experimental tests. An engineering scale vehicle is subsequently manufactured and tested on surface terrains of lateral as well as vertical gaps, and is finally validated on the FAST reflector. Findings This model of vehicle robot exhibits strong structure stability under desired payload. It can stably cross lateral gaps for maximum surface slope 28° and can traverse vertical gap for maximum surface slope 23°. The traversing abilities satisfy the mobility requirements subjected to surface terrains of FAST reflector. Originality/value The engineering vehicle robot negotiates the lateral as well as vertical gaps between triangle panels and has been successfully applied to the FAST reflector serving for inspection and maintenance work.

The wheel-legged biped robot is a typical ground-based mobile robot that can combine the high velocity and high efficiency pertaining to wheeled motion and the strong, obstacle-crossing performance associated with legged motion. These robots have gradually exhibited satisfactory application potential in various harsh scenarios such as rubble rescue, military operations, and wilderness exploration. Wheel-legged biped robots are divided into four categories according to the open–close chain structure forms and operation task modes, and the latest technology research status is summarized in this paper. The hardware control system, control method, and application are analyzed, and the dynamic balance control for the two-wheel, biomimetic jumping control for the legs and whole-body control for integrating the wheels and legs are analyzed. In summary, it is observed that the current research exhibits problems, such as the insufficient application of novel materials and a rigid–flexible coupling design; the limited application of the advanced, intelligent control methods; the inadequate understanding of the bionic jumping mechanisms in robot legs; and the insufficient coordination ability of the multi-modal motion, which do not exhibit practical application for the wheel-legged biped robots. Finally, this study discusses the key research directions and development trends for the wheel-legged biped robots.

The exploration of the planet Mars still is a top priority in planetary science. The Mars surface is extensively covered with soil-like material. Current wheeled rovers on Mars have been occasionally experiencing immobilization instances in unexpectedly weak terrains. The development of Mars rovers adaptable to these terrains is instrumental in improving exploration efficiency. Inspired by locomotion of the desert lizard, this paper illustrates a biomimetic quadruped robot with structures of flexible active spine and toes. By accounting for spine lateral flexion and its coordination with four leg movements, three gaits of tripod, trot and turning are designed. The motions corresponding to the three gaits are conceptually and numerically analyzed. On the granular terrains analog to Martian surface, the gasping forces by the active toes are estimated. Then traversing tests for the robot to move on Martian soil surface analog with the three gaits were investigated. Moreover, the traversing characteristics for Martian rocky and slope surface analog are analyzed. Results show that the robot can traverse Martian soil surface analog with maximum forward speed 28.13 m s-1turning speed 1.94° s-1and obstacle height 74.85 mm. The maximum angle for climbing Martian soil slope analog is 28°, corresponding slippery rate 76.8%. It is predicted that this robot can adapt to Martian granular rough terrain with gentle slopes.

Continuum robots are flexible and compliant. Compared to the case in conventional articulated manipulators, the driving unit can be placed outside the workspace of the robot, so that the motion orientation has a relatively complete linear configuration flow, which can be applied to a special environment with narrow and multiple obstacles such as aerospace. This study presents the development process of a tendon-driven continuum robot (TCR) with a high length-diameter ratio. The skeleton structure which imitates a snake is composed of continuous joints in series. The driving device is operated by using a tendon-driven method, which reduces the complexity of the driving box and control system significantly. The diameter of the robot is designed to be 5 mm, which enables it to work in a narrow and slender space with certain flexibility. Subsequently, a kinematic model of the robot is established. The mode function backbone method is applied to realize TCR trajectory planning. An idea of segmented solving is adopted to achieve trajectory tracking control of the continuum robot. Finally, a prototype of the continuum robot is produced, and the rationality of the robot design and the effectiveness of the motion control method are verified through trajectory simulations and experiments. The robot can perform inspection tasks within a narrow gap of 20 mm with good environmental adaptability.

To address the problems of long optimization times of bionic wear-resistant structures in discrete element simulation. We established two-dimensional homoscale discrete element simulation models for four biomimetic structures, along with their respective abrasive wear computational models. We then deliberated upon their wear behavior in relation to the structural morphology, contact constraints, contact force, and wear volume during the wear process. The study found that the shedding of brittle wear body surface abrasives had little effect on the substrate of the bionic structure. Based on the above findings, a multi-scale/cross-level study of the interaction between biological wear surface structure and abrasive was conducted. The findings evince that utilization of a multi-scale computational model ensures the precise examination of the mechanical response of a material to external forces, while also economizing computational time. Finally, the design of the conical bionic structure is optimized based on the multi-scale/cross-level computational model. The results show that the conical bionic structure has good wear resistance when the abrasive grain size is small and when the monomer spacing is not larger than the monomer width. The bionic structure/abrasive interaction multi-scale numerical simulation system established in this paper reduces the complexity of dynamic numerical simulation of wear behavior on the surface of wear- resistant organisms, improves the calculation efficiency, and provides an important research means and method for optimizing the design of bionic wear-resistant parts.

Venous blood collection testing is one of the most commonly used medical diagnostic methods. Compared with conventional venous blood collection, robotic collection can reduce needle-stick injuries, medical staff workload, and infection risk; allow doctor-patient isolation; and improve collection reliability. Existing venous blood collection robots use rigid puncture needles, which can easily puncture the lower wall of blood vessels, causing vessel damage and collection failure. This paper proposes a bionic blood collection strategy based on a composite puncture needle that mimics the structure and function of mosquito mouthparts. A bionic composite puncture needle insertion system with puncture-force sensing was designed, and venipuncture forces were simulated and mathematically modelled. A prototype insertion system was built and used in an experiment, which demonstrated effective composite puncture blood collection and explored the factors influencing puncture force. Puncture force decreases with increased puncture speed and angle and with a decreased needle diameter. This provides a basis for optimising the parameters of blood collection robots.

Download This Paper Open PDF in Browser Add Paper to My Library Share: Permalink Using these links will ensure access to this page indefinitely Copy URL Copy DOI

Exploring Mars is beneficial to increasing our knowledge, understanding the possibility of ancient microbial life there, and discovering new resources beyond the Earth to prepare for future human missions to Mars. To assist ambitious uncrewed missions to Mars, specific types of planetary rovers have been developed for performing tasks on Mars' surface. Due to the fact that the surface is composed of granular soils and rocks of various sizes, contemporary rovers can have difficulties in moving on soft soils and climbing over rocks. To overcome such difficulties, this research develops a quadruped creeping robot inspired by the locomotion characteristics of the desert lizard. This biomimetic robot features a flexible spine, which allows swinging movements during locomotion. The leg structure utilizes a four-linkage mechanism, which ensures a steady lifting motion. The foot consists of an active ankle and a round pad with four flexible toes that are effective in grasping soils and rocks. To determine robot motions, kinematic models relating to foot, leg, and spine are established. Moreover, the coordinated motions between the trunk spine and leg are numerically verified. In addition, the mobility on granular soils and rocky surface are experimentally demonstrated, which can imply that this biomimetic robot is suitable for Mars surface terrains.

With the rapid development of unmanned aerial and underwater vehicles, various tasks, such as biodiversity monitoring, surveying, and mapping, as well as, search and rescue can now be completed in a single medium, either underwater or in the air. By systematically examining the water–air cross-medium locomotion of organisms, there has been growing interest in the development of aerial-aquatic vehicles. The goal of this review is to provide a detailed outline of the design and cross-medium theoretical research of the existing aerial-aquatic vehicles based on the research on the organisms capable of transiting between water and air. Although these designs and theoretical frameworks have been validated in many aerial-aquatic vehicles, there are still many problems that need to be addressed, such as inflexible underwater motion and unstable medium conversion. As a result, supplementation of the existing cross-medium biomimetic research, vehicle design, power selection, and cross-medium theory is urgently required to optimize the key technologies in detail. Therefore, by summarizing the existing designs and theoretical approaches on aerial-aquatic vehicles, including biomimetic research on water–air cross-medium locomotion in nature, different power selections, and cross-medium theoretical research, the relative problems and development trends on aerial-aquatic vehicles were thoroughly explored, providing significant help for the subsequent research process.

The majority of sprawling-posture quadrupedal vertebrates, such as geckos and lizards, adopt a cyclical lateral swing pattern of their trunk that is coordinated with limb movements to provide extraordinary flexibility and mobility. Inspired by the gecko's locomotory gait and posture, a gecko-like robot with a flexible spine driven by shape memory alloy (SMA) springs was proposed in this work. The static parameters of the SMA spring were experimentally measured, and the flexible spine driven by SMA springs can be deflected bidirectionally. A kinematic model of the spine mechanism was established, and the mathematical relationship between the thermodynamic behavior of the SMA springs and spinal deflection was systematically analyzed. When a gecko trots with a lateral swing pattern of its trunk, the body and the spine show a standing wave shape and a single-peak C-type curve, respectively. The lateral spine deflection and trotting gait were combined in a collaborative model of a flexible spine and limbs to describe in detail the specific relationships between leg joint variables and spine deflection angle. Planar motion tests of a prototype robot were also conducted by using four high-speed cameras to record the trajectory of each point of the body, which verified the proposed model. From the acquired results, it was demonstrated that, compared with a rigid body, a robot with a flexible spine has a longer stride length, higher speed, and a greatly reduced turning radius.

Insects that can perform flapping-wing flight, climb on a wall, and switch smoothly between the 2 locomotion regimes provide us with excellent biomimetic models. However, very few biomimetic robots can perform complex locomotion tasks that combine the 2 abilities of climbing and flying. Here, we describe an aerial-wall amphibious robot that is self-contained for flying and climbing, and that can seamlessly move between the air and wall. It adopts a flapping/rotor hybrid power layout, which realizes not only efficient and controllable flight in the air but also attachment to, and climbing on, the vertical wall through a synergistic combination of the aerodynamic negative pressure adsorption of the rotor power and a climbing mechanism with bionic adhesion performance. On the basis of the attachment mechanism of insect foot pads, the prepared biomimetic adhesive materials of the robot can be applied to various types of wall surfaces to achieve stable climbing. The longitudinal axis layout design of the rotor dynamics and control strategy realize a unique cross-domain movement during the flying-climbing transition, which has important implications in understanding the takeoff and landing of insects. Moreover, it enables the robot to cross the air-wall boundary in 0.4 s (landing), and cross the wall-air boundary in 0.7 s (taking off). The aerial-wall amphibious robot expands the working space of traditional flying and climbing robots, which can pave the way for future robots that can perform autonomous visual monitoring, human search and rescue, and tracking tasks in complex air-wall environments.

Mars surface exploration has attracted significant attention of scientists for exploiting new resources and space. To perform explorations on Mars surface, various structures of planetary rovers have been proposed. The Mars surface contains loose granular materials and various sizes of rocks. Traditional wheeled, crawler and legged structures of Mars rovers are mainly designed to walk on granular materials terrain, which are incapable of adapting to rocky surfaces. To improve the adaptations for both granular and rocky surfaces, this paper introduces a quadruped legged robot inspired by the locomotion of desert animal lizard that can walk on granular and rocky surfaces. The main feature is that the structure of the proposed robot possesses bionic multi-toe foot and flexible active spine. To verify the robot locomotion, kinematics on foot, leg and spine of the quadruped robot are analyzed. Furthermore, robot motions are analytically predicted with respect to two types of gaits. Combining control framework for adapting to both granular and rocky surfaces, a prototype of Mars robot has been manufactured. Experimental tests demonstrated that the bionic robot can walk on granular surfaces, and can also climb on rocky surface using the multi-joint toe with claw. Therefore, this bionic quadruped robot can have higher adaptability for Mars surface environment.

复合材料轻质夹芯结构因其优异的力学性能被广泛应用于航空航天领域.本文在对白星花金龟鞘翅断面形貌观测的基础上,根据鞘翅表皮层中纤维铺排方式以及微观结构特征设计了仿鞘翅轻质高韧夹芯结构.并利用有限元法对复合材料双螺旋铺层面板以及仿生鞘翅夹芯结构进行三点弯曲力学性能分析,对结构韧性进行分析和评价;进一步对夹芯结构进行承压性能分析.结果表明与传统蜂窝夹芯结构相比,所设计的仿鞘翅复合材料夹芯结构具有更优异的韧性,且与蜂窝夹芯结构承压能力相当.该研究对新型轻质高强高韧复合材料结构设计具有一定的参考和指导意义.