The competition organizers plan to ask team members from research institutions in the UK and Europe to select what they consider the best concept and then develop it into a functional prototype. Engineers will continue to further develop the technology, and the general public can also participate in development by accessing the device's open-source program.
"Bionic robots" refer to robots that mimic biological organisms and perform tasks based on their characteristics. In Western countries, robotic pets are very popular. Additionally, sparrow-like robots can perform environmental monitoring tasks and have broad development prospects. As humanity enters an aging society in the 21st century, the development of "humanoid robots" will compensate for the severe shortage of young labor, solve social problems such as family services and healthcare in an aging society, and open up new industries and create new employment opportunities.
In the evolution of robots into intelligent robots, some have argued against the notion that robots must first be able to think before they can perform tasks, believing that complex tasks can be accomplished with many simple robots. In the early 1990s, Professor Brooks of MIT, with the help of his students, created a series of mosquito-like robots, named insect robots. These tiny creatures behaved very similarly to cockroaches. They could not think; they could only act according to human-programmed instructions.
Several years ago, scientists created an electronic robotic bird for the San Diego Zoo that could mimic a mother vulture and feed her eaglets on time. Japan and Russia developed an electronic robotic crab capable of deep-sea monitoring, collecting rock samples, capturing seabed creatures, and performing underwater welding. The United States developed a robotic tuna named Charlie, 1.32 meters long and composed of 2,843 parts. By moving its body and tail, it can swim like a real fish at a speed of 7.2 kilometers per hour. It can work continuously underwater for months, mapping the ocean and detecting underwater pollution, and it can also be used to photograph marine life because of its remarkably lifelike tuna imitation.
In 2001, Xie Guangming entered the Department of Mechanics at Peking University to pursue postdoctoral studies, choosing a research direction that was not very popular at the time—robotics. "I chose this direction because I wanted to do something tangible and relatable," Xie Guangming said. He had majored in mathematics for his undergraduate degree and automatic control for his doctoral degree, and at the time he felt that the professional content was a bit far removed from practical applications. "I always felt that doing basic theoretical research was not 'satisfying' enough, so I wanted to do research that ordinary people could use in their daily lives."
However, robots are classified in many ways, from aerial robots represented by drones to land robots similar to self-driving cars, and even dolls that can talk to children are classified as robots. Given such a diverse range of research directions, how did you choose to focus on biomimetic robotic fish swimming in the water? When asked this question by a reporter, Xie Guangming paused and said earnestly, "Because the underwater world is far more fascinating than we imagine."
The Vision 60 quadrupedal bionic robot dog, already in service with the U.S. Air Force, is well-suited for patrol and reconnaissance missions. Currently, among the unmanned ground equipment deployed by the militaries of many countries, the majority are tracked or wheeled unmanned vehicles, such as unmanned reconnaissance vehicles, unmanned mine-clearing vehicles, and unmanned combat vehicles. Bionic quadrupedal robots have only been experimentally deployed in the militaries of a few developed countries. This is because, compared to tracked or wheeled unmanned ground vehicles, the control system of bionic quadrupedal robots, which mimic biological locomotion principles, is far more complex and technically challenging. Therefore, for a considerable period, bionic robots were primarily used to showcase the high levels of expertise achieved by research institutions in this technological field and rarely left the laboratory.
Furthermore, because the performance of early bionic quadruped robots was still relatively rudimentary, they lacked practical value in the military field. After the 1990s, some robotics research institutions in the United States and Japan began to develop quadruped robots for commercial purposes.
