In context
As industrial and field operations expand into complex environments, robots capable of traversing multiple habitats—water, land, and air—are gaining attention. This review, published in the Chinese journal Robot in 2025, reflects a growing global push toward versatile robotic systems for tasks such as disaster response, inspection, and exploration.
What was reported
The article systematically reviews biomimetic amphibious robots, which imitate biological structures, functions, and behaviors to operate efficiently in different environments. It categorizes them into four types: aquatic-terrestrial-aerial, aquatic-terrestrial, terrestrial-aerial, and aquatic-aerial, based on their working environments.
The review covers morphological design theory, including structural, functional, behavioral, and coupled bionics. It highlights examples such as a tilt-rotor robot with a manipulator from Shandong University, a cage-type robot from USTC, and a mother-son robot from Tianjin University of Technology, among others. Each design is assessed for its structural features, motion mechanisms, and functionality.
Key challenges identified include insufficient acquisition of biological cases, inadequate cross-disciplinary knowledge reasoning, lack of flexibility in control methods, generally low intelligence, and inefficient energy utilization. The authors suggest integrating large language models, swarm intelligence, and data-driven design to improve adaptability and autonomy.
"Biomimetic amphibious robots can efficiently perform tasks in different environments by imitating the structure, function and behavior of natural organisms, and demonstrate broad application prospects."
Why it mattered
This review provides a structured overview of a rapidly evolving field, offering a reference for engineers and researchers. It underscores the importance of biological and material sciences in advancing multi-habitat robots, which could eventually support industrial applications in inspection, logistics, and emergency response across challenging terrains.
Source: 《机器人》期刊 (robot.sia.cn) · Published 2025-03-15 · “仿生多栖机器人研究现状与未来展望”