Research Progress of Bionic Water Strider Robot

Background: The bionic water strider robot can achieve sliding, jumping, and other movements on the water surface, having advantages of small size, light weight, flexible movements, and other characteristics. It can detect the quality of water, investigate and search the water surface, and perform some other operations. It has a very broad range of applications and development prospects. Therefore, the trend of biomimetic water strider robots is attracting more and more attention. Objective: This study aimed to review the bionic water strider robot and introduce its classification, characteristics, and development. Methods: This paper reviews various productions and patents related to the bionic water strider robot from 2003 to the present. The sources of the papers include CNKI, Wanfang, Patent publication announcement in China, Web of Science, IEEE, Elsevier, Springer-Verlag, Espacenet, and FPO IP Research & Communities. To obtain the results, an endnote was used for documentation, and citeSapce was used for visual analysis. Results: The mechanical structure of existing bionic water strider robots has been analyzed and compared. Furthermore, the typical characteristics are concluded. The main problems in its development are analyzed, and the development trend is foreseen. Furthermore, the current and future research prospects of the productions and patents on the bionic water strider robot are discussed. Conclusion: The optimization and development of the structure of the bionic water strider robot and the development of associated components help to improve the simulation of the water strider's motion and perform a better task in a complex water surface environment. In the future, with the improvement in the research, the bionic water strider robot will develop into miniaturization, intelligence, and integration.