From Shallow Waters to Mariana Trench: A Survey of Bio-inspired Underwater Soft Robots

TL;DR

This survey reviews recent advances in bio-inspired underwater soft robots, highlighting their design considerations, environmental interactions, and potential for eco-friendly ocean exploration.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of bio-inspired design principles, environmental adaptations, and future directions for underwater soft robots.

Findings

Bio-inspired soft robots can withstand high water pressure.

They minimize environmental impact and noise.

Progression from design to practical applications is ongoing.

Abstract

Sample Exploring the ocean environment holds profound significance in areas such as resource exploration and ecological protection. Underwater robots struggle with extreme water pressure and often cause noise and damage to the underwater ecosystem, while bio-inspired soft robots draw inspiration from aquatic creatures to address these challenges. These bio-inspired approaches enable robots to withstand high water pressure, minimize drag, operate with efficient manipulation and sensing systems, and interact with the environment in an eco-friendly manner. Consequently, bio-inspired soft robots have emerged as a promising field for ocean exploration. This paper reviews recent advancements in underwater bio-inspired soft robots, analyses their design considerations when facing different desired functions, bio-inspirations, ambient pressure, temperature, light, and biodiversity , and finally explores the progression from bio-inspired principles to practical applications in the field and suggests potential directions for developing the next generation of underwater soft robots.