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The snake-inspired robots: a review

Xiaolong Yang (College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Changchun University of Science and Technology, Changchun, China)
Long Zheng (Key Laboratory of Bionic Engineering, Ministry of Education, Jilin University, Changchun, China)
Da Lü (College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Changchun University of Science and Technology, Changchun, China)
Jinhao Wang (College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Changchun University of Science and Technology, Changchun, China)
Shukun Wang (College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Changchun University of Science and Technology, Changchun, China)
Hang Su (Dipartimento di Elettronica Informazione e Bioingegneria, Politecnico di Milano, Milano, Italy)
Zhixin Wang (Weihai Institute for Bionics, Jilin University, Changchun, China)
Luquan Ren (Key Laboratory of Bionic Engineering, Ministry of Education, Jilin University, Changchun, China)

Assembly Automation

ISSN: 0144-5154

Article publication date: 8 July 2022

Issue publication date: 19 July 2022

1064

Abstract

Purpose

Snake-inspired robots are of great significance in many fields because of their great adaptability to the environment. This paper aims to systematically illustrate the research progress of snake-inspired robots according to their application environments. It classifies snake-inspired robots according to the numbers of degrees of freedom in each joint and briefly describes the modeling and control of snake-inspired robots. Finally, the application fields and future development trends of snake-inspired robots are analyzed and discussed.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper summarizes the research progress of snake-inspired robots and clarifies the requirements of snake-inspired robots for self-adaptive environments and multi-functional tasks. By equipping various sensors and tool modules, snake-inspired robots are developed from fixed-point operation in a single environment to autonomous operation in an amphibious environment. Finally, it is pointed out that snake-inspired robots will be developed in terms of rigid and flexible deformable structure, long endurance and multi-function and intelligent autonomous control.

Findings

Inspired by the modular and reconfigurable concepts of biological snakes, snake-inspired robots are well adapted to unknown and changing environments. Therefore, snake-inspired robots will be widely used in industrial, military, medical, post-disaster search and rescue applications. Snake-inspired robots have become a hot research topic in the field of bionic robots.

Originality/value

This paper summarizes the research status of snake-inspired robots, which facilitates the reader to be a comprehensive and systematic understanding of the research progress of snake-inspired robots. This helps the reader to gain inspiration from biological perspectives.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

Funding: The authors appreciate the financial support by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.51905208), the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No.2020M670855) and the Open Project Program of Key Laboratory for Cross-Scale Micro and Nano Manufacturing, Minstry of Education, Changchun University of Science and Technology (No.CMNM-KF202103).

Citation

Yang, X., Zheng, L., Lü, D., Wang, J., Wang, S., Su, H., Wang, Z. and Ren, L. (2022), "The snake-inspired robots: a review", Assembly Automation, Vol. 42 No. 4, pp. 567-583. https://doi.org/10.1108/AA-03-2022-0058

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited

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