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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.

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.

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.

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.

The Automation and Robotics Centre at UWIST marks the latest stage in the Institute's progress towards becoming a German‐style technical university in South Wales.

Examines work on the development of an undersea remotely operated vehicle which is both unmanned and untethered. Outlines the difficulty of the only suitable long‐range underwater communication system being an acoustic link which has a very low bandwidth and a very large delay. The teleprogramming system seeks to overcome this difficulty by creating a computer simulation of the remote environment and allowing the operator to perform his task entirely within that simulated world. Describes the operator station, command generation to the ROV, the detection of errors and the hardware implementation. Concludes that the teleprogramming systems provides a means of performing tasks efficiently, even when the communication between operator and remote site occurs via a low bandwidth, high delay, communications link.

Virtual Reality (VR) refers to the computer generation of realistic three‐dimensional artificial worlds in which humans, typically equipped with head‐mounted 3D displays, interactive gloves and even whole‐body suits, can be ‘immersed’, and are free to explore and interact with graphical objects in real time, using such natural skills as looking from different angles, moving, pointing, grasping, listening and talking. The early history behind the emergence of VR is short and incredibly intense and characterized by a small group of familiar names. As one of the key figures, Myron Krueger has described it, ‘…Like particles in a fission reaction, personnel from one project disband and reappear with new affiliations’. That reaction continues today, with a reproduction of the American experience in Europe.

Presents both description and overview of the emerging field of biomechanical grippers and shows the prototype of biomechanical gripper called the Presov biomechanical robot gripper. Biomechanical robots and biomechanical grippers belong under biorobotics and bioengineering systems. Basic components of biorobotics include biomechanisms, biocontrol, biointelligence and biosensors. The Presov Biomechanical Robot Gripper is an electrically‐driven, multi‐fingered dextrous gripper, which has many features that conventional industrial robot grippers do not have. This gripper has been developed in the Department of Industrial Robotics of the Technical University in Presov, Slovak Republic.

The purpose of this paper is to describe a new multi‐sensor robotic system designed for riser, mooring lines and umbilical cables in situ underwater inspection. Due to the aggressive operation environment, such structures are susceptible to a broad spectrum of failure causes, such as aging, mechanical, chemical and thermal loads, hydrodynamic stresses, vortex‐induced vibrations and installation or fabrication non‐conformities. Current inspection methods present major risks and inefficiencies, especially as deeper fields are being reached for exploitation.

The SIRIS (In Situ Riser Inspection Robotic System) is designed to reconstruct the actual riser profile and perform non‐destructive tests. The robot is propelled by thrusters to scroll by the outside of the catenary riser. Mechanical, electronic hardware, image acquisition and software/firmware design are described here.

Simulated data from an inertial measurement unit is fused with depth sensor measurements, using a Kalman filter to reconstruct the riser profile, with small localization errors. Laboratory and sheltered waters tests were successfully executed to assess robot subsystems' performance: imaging, leakage, displacement and easiness of operation.

The robot prototype is designed to operate down to 250 m deep, although the final goal is reaching 3,000 m. Tests offshore, in a real oil production platform, have not been performed up to this moment. In the present version, the robot must be coupled to the riser with the aid of a scuba diver.

The robot is expected to allow non‐destructive testing in risers that cannot be performed nowadays with the existing tools. The inspecting procedure is easy to operate and does imply any kind of production stopping. More accurate assessment of the riser structural condition can allow extending its life span, thus avoiding early decommissioning.

Better assessment of actual riser facilities status will have great impact on reducing the chance of oil spill episodes and serious environment damage.

The design, construction and evaluation of a robotic tool for non‐destructive riser inspection has been described. A few similar robots exist in literature but none of them is able to reconstruct the actual riser profile.

In the paper, “TV‐trackmeter”, a stereoscopic measuring system developed by Tecnomare, is presented, some recent innovations and upgrading are described, and its reliable use in hostile environments proved. The latest release of the device implements highlighted featuring capabilities such as 3D measuring, automatic mapping, false colour depth‐maps, geometric modelling, multi‐point tracking, recording/retrieving of stereo pair images, and use of new and more powerful hardware. A theoretical introduction to the operating mode of a stereoscopic device, followed by an error propagation analysis is included. A brief description is also given of the accuracy of the device, i.e. pose detection (position and attitude estimation) of the scene objects. An evaluation of the tracking speed capability is provided. Some examples are shown of trials carried out within a nuclear power plant and underwater. Two further applications for this system are described.

The Institution of Mechanical Engineers celebrated its 150th anniversary in a symposium on 7‐8 July at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in London. Its theme was “Visions of the Future ‐ improving the quality of life through technology”, and many senior speakers were invited from industry and academia. Reviews in summary some of the presentations of particular relevance to readers interested in technology.