In this work we present a novel system for marine sediment sampling aimed at microplastic (MP) assessment studies. The system is composed of a medium-sized underwater legged robot (ULR) equipped with a customized sampler consisting of a grab mounted on an underactuated mechanism. The system was developed following the requirements of marine biologists actively involved in MP pollution investigation. The requirements include the penetration depth, the weight of the sample, the possibility of collecting replicas without returning to the boat or the shore, the amount of sediment perturbation introduced by the system, and the sampling accuracy. The proposed system has been tested under controlled conditions in a tank as well as in real conditions in two different field trials. Our results showed that the proposed system is capable of meeting all user requirements by taking advantage of the capabilities of ULRs in terms of low sediment resuspension, precise position control, and increased station-keeping capabilities coupled with the custom sampler design. Sediment collected during field trials has been analyzed, extracting information about the quantity and composition of MPs, to provide an overview of the complete procedure. This work represents an important step toward the use of legged robots in marine operations and contributes to highlight the importance of multidisciplinary collaborations among roboticists and scientists to develop novel solutions and increase the sampling capabilities of end users.

The exploration of underwater environments presents unique challenges that conventional propeller-based underwater robots struggle to overcome due to their inherent limitations in maneuverability and environmental disturbance. This has lead to the interest in bioinspired robotic systems capable of multimodal locomotion, inspired by the versatile movements of marine animals that excel in both swimming and benthic locomotion. This article introduces the design framework of a novel bioinspired underwater vehicle, RoboIguana, which draws inspiration from the marine iguana's ability to perform both undulatory swimming and benthic legged locomotion. We present in detail the design of different subsystems of the robot, including legged and swimming locomotion, vision, electronics, and chassis. The integration of these subsystems aims to enable RoboIguana to navigate complex underwater terrains effectively, offering an innovative tool for marine exploration and research.

This article investigates bioinspired solutions for achieving stable dynamic gaits in legged robots through leg coordination and foot trajectories. In this study, we recorded the kinematics of underwater running of the crab, Pachygrapsus marmoratus, and implemented the parameterized foot trajectories and inter-leg coordination on an underwater legged robot, SILVER 2.0. The robot's design parameters like legs’ stiffness, leg length, and body mass are based on the Underwater Spring Loaded Inverted Pendulum (USLIP), a model that describes underwater running in animals. With this implementation, we observed the spontaneous emergence of USLIP dynamics in 20% of the strides in the robot. This approach allowed SILVER 2.0 to leverage the advantages of stable dynamic gaits while optimizing the foot trajectory and inter-leg coordination, resulting in improved locomotion performances. The robot achieved a forward velocity of 0.16 m/s, twice the value obtained in previous gaits. Our study presents a promising approach for improving the locomotion performance of legged robots, enabling their effective use in various field applications, and further confirms a broad embedding of controllers generating template dynamics.

We live in a time of unprecedented scientific and human progress while being increasingly aware of its negative impacts on our planet’s health. Aerial, terrestrial, and aquatic ecosystems have significantly declined putting us on course to a sixth mass extinction event. Nonetheless, the advances made in science, engineering, and technology have given us the opportunity to reverse some of our ecosystem damage and preserve them through conservation efforts around the world. However, current conservation efforts are primarily human led with assistance from conventional robotic systems which limit their scope and effectiveness, along with negatively impacting the surroundings. In this perspective, we present the field of bioinspired robotics to develop versatile agents for future conservation efforts that can operate in the natural environment while minimizing the disturbance/impact to its inhabitants and the environment’s natural state. We provide an operational and environmental framework that should be considered while developing bioinspired robots for conservation. These considerations go beyond addressing the challenges of human-led conservation efforts and leverage the advancements in the field of materials, intelligence, and energy harvesting, to make bioinspired robots move and sense like animals. In doing so, it makes bioinspired robots an attractive, non-invasive, sustainable, and effective conservation tool for exploration, data collection, intervention, and maintenance tasks. Finally, we discuss the development of bioinspired robots in the context of collaboration, practicality, and applicability that would ensure their further development and widespread use to protect and preserve our natural world.