Bridging the Gap to Bionic Motion: Challenges in Legged Robot Limb Unit Design, Modeling, and Control

Abstract

Motivated by the agility of animal and human locomotion, highly dynamic bionic legged robots have been extensively applied across various domains. Legged robotics represents a multidisciplinary field that integrates manufacturing, materials science, electronics, and biology, and other disciplines. Among its core subsystems, the lower limbs are particularly critical, necessitating the integration of structural optimization, advanced modeling techniques, and sophisticated control strategies to fully exploit robots' dynamic performance potential. This paper presents a comprehensive review of recent developments in the structural design of single-legged robots and systematically summarizes prevailing modeling approaches and control strategies. Key challenges and potential future directions are also discussed, serving as a reference for the future application of state-of-the-art manufacturing and control methodologies in legged robotic systems.