Bioinspired robots can foster nature conservation

Frontiers in Robotics and AI

Robotics and AI

Andrew K. Schulz¹  Pranav C. Khandelwal²  Mrudul Chellapurath³ 

[1] Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, Stuttgart, Germany;Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, Stuttgart, Germany;Institute of Flight Mechanics and Controls, University of Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany;Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, Stuttgart, Germany;KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden;

关键词: biomimetics;    bioinspiration;    collaboration;    locomotion;    exploration;    monitoring;    intervention;    maintenance;   

DOI  :  10.3389/frobt.2023.1145798

 received in 2023-01-16, accepted in 2023-09-25,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

We live in a time of unprecedented scientific and human progress while being increasingly aware of its negative impacts on our planet’s health. Aerial, terrestrial, and aquatic ecosystems have significantly declined putting us on course to a sixth mass extinction event. Nonetheless, the advances made in science, engineering, and technology have given us the opportunity to reverse some of our ecosystem damage and preserve them through conservation efforts around the world. However, current conservation efforts are primarily human led with assistance from conventional robotic systems which limit their scope and effectiveness, along with negatively impacting the surroundings. In this perspective, we present the field of bioinspired robotics to develop versatile agents for future conservation efforts that can operate in the natural environment while minimizing the disturbance/impact to its inhabitants and the environment’s natural state. We provide an operational and environmental framework that should be considered while developing bioinspired robots for conservation. These considerations go beyond addressing the challenges of human-led conservation efforts and leverage the advancements in the field of materials, intelligence, and energy harvesting, to make bioinspired robots move and sense like animals. In doing so, it makes bioinspired robots an attractive, non-invasive, sustainable, and effective conservation tool for exploration, data collection, intervention, and maintenance tasks. Finally, we discuss the development of bioinspired robots in the context of collaboration, practicality, and applicability that would ensure their further development and widespread use to protect and preserve our natural world.

【 授权许可】

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Copyright © 2023 Chellapurath, Khandelwal and Schulz.