A survey of the development of biomimetic intelligence and robotics

Abstract Biomimetics is the development of novel theories and technologies by emulating the models and systems of nature. The transfer of function from biological science into engineering promotes emerging research areas across many disparate disciplines. Recently, advances in biomimetic intelligence and robotics have gained great popularity. Biomimetic robotics are designed with biological characteristics and functions to be applied in different scenarios, such as humanoid robot in the home environment, quadruped robot in the field, and bird-like flying robot in the sky. Biomimetic intelligence aims to solve many complex problems by studying the principles of biological systems, resulting in a series of efficient algorithms, such as the genetic algorithm and neural network. Biomimetic intelligence further facilitates the performance of biomimetic robotics, making it possible to be deployed in more and more practical applications. This survey introduces the development of biomimetic intelligence and biomimetic robotics. We survey different biomimetic robots, biomimetic sensors and sensing technologies, and popular biomimetic intelligence algorithms. The conclusion is drawn by discussing current challenges and future research directions.