Robots Inspired by Inchworms: Structural Design and Applications

Bionically designed crawling robots can adapt to complex environments and are widely used in military reconnaissance, environmental monitoring, and infrastructure inspection. As a typical organism, the unique crawling method of inchworms provides new ideas for robot design. This paper reviews the recent progress in the design and application of inchworm robots. First, the torso design of the inchworm robot is introduced, focusing on the application of external stimulus actuation modes such as light, magnetism, and humidity, as well as pressure, electric, and motor actuation modes. Second, the design of the head and tail structure of the inchworm robot is analyzed, and a variety of anchoring techniques, such as vacuum adsorption, magnetic adsorption, and electro-adhesion, are explored, and their respective advantages and disadvantages are discussed. Finally, this paper looks forward to the future application scenarios and development directions of inchworm robots, providing guidance for future research.