The origin of life initiated an evolutionary continuum yielding biologically optimized systems capable of operating under extreme environmental constraints. Biomimetics, defined as the systematic abstraction and transfer of biological principles into engineering domains, has become a strategic design paradigm for addressing the multifactorial challenges of space systems. This study introduces two core contributions to formally establish the discipline of Aerospace Bionic Robotics (ABR): First, it elucidates the relevance of biologically derived functionalities such as autonomy, adaptability, and multifunctionality to enhance the efficiency of space robotic platforms operating in microgravity environments. Second, it proposed the BEAM-D (Biomimetic Engineering and Aerospace Mechatronics Design), a standard for the development of Aerospace Bionic Robotics. By integrating biological abstraction levels (morphological, functional, and behavioral) with engineering protocols including ISO, VDI, and NASA’s TRL, BEAM-D enables a structured design pathway encompassing subsystem specification, cyber–physical integration, in situ testing, and full-scale mission deployment. It is implemented through a modular BEAM-DX framework and reinforced by iterative BIOX design steps. This study thus establishes formalized bio-inspired design tools for advanced orbital and planetary robotic systems capable of sustained autonomous operations in deep space exploration scenarios.

This research presents a 10-year systematic review based on bibliometric analysis of the bio-inspired design of hard-bodied mobile robot mechatronic systems considering the anatomy of arthropods. These are the most diverse group of animals whose flexible biomechanics and adaptable morphology, thus, it can inspire robot development. Papers were reviewed from two international databases (Scopus and Web of Science) and one platform (Aerospace Research Central), then they were classified according to: Year of publication (January 2013 to April 2023), arthropod group, published journal, conference proceedings, editorial publisher, research teams, robot classification according to the name of arthropod, limb’s locomotion support, number of legs/arms, number of legs/body segments, limb’s degrees of freedom, mechanical actuation type, modular system, and environment adaptation. During the screening, more than 33 000 works were analyzed. Finally, a total of 174 studies (90 journal-type, 84 conference-type) were selected for in-depth study: Insecta—hexapods (53.8%), Arachnida—octopods (20.7%), Crustacea—decapods (16.1%), and Myriapoda—centipedes and millipedes (9.2%). The study reveals that the most active editorials are the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., Springer, MDPI, and Elsevier, while the most influential researchers are located in the USA, China, Singapore, and Japan. Most works pertained to spiders, crabs, caterpillars, cockroaches, and centipedes. We conclude that ‘arthrobotics’ research, which merges arthropods and robotics, is constantly growing and includes a high number of relevant studies with findings that can inspire new methods to design biomechatronic systems.

Inching-locomotion caterpillars (ILAR) show impressive environmental adaptation, having high dexterity and flexibility. To design robots that mimic these abilities, a novel bioinspired robotic design (BIROD) method is presented. The method is composed by an algorithm for geometrical kinematic analysis (GEKINS) to standardize the proportional dimensions according to the insect’s anatomy and obtain the kinematic chains. The approach is experimentally applied to analyze the locomotion and kinematic chain of these specimens: Geometridae—two pair of prolegs (represents 35 000 species) and Plusiinae—three pair of prolegs (represents 400 species). The obtained data indicate that the application of the proposed method permits to locate the attachment mechanisms, joints, links, and to calculate angular displacement, angular average velocity, number of degrees of freedom, and thus the kinematic chain. Geometridae in contrast to Plusiinae, shows a longer walk-stride length, a lower number of single-rotational joints in 2D (3 DOF versus 4 DOF), and a lower number of dual-rotational joints in 3D (6 DOF versus 8 DOF). The application of BIROD and GEKINS provides the forward kinematics for 35 400 ILAR species and are expected to be useful as a preliminary phase for the design of bio-inspired arthropod robots.