Abstract-The EU-funded CoCoRo project studies heterogeneous swarms of AUVs used for the purposes of underwater monitoring and search. The CoCoRo underwater swarm system will combine bio-inspired motion principles with biologically-derived collective cognition mechanisms to provide a novel robotic system that is scalable, reliable and flexible with respect its behavioural potential. We will investigate and develop swarm-level emergent self-awareness, taking biological inspiration from fish, honeybees, the immune system and neurons. Low-level, local information processing will give rise to collective-level memory and cognition. CoCoRo will develop a novel bio-inspired operating system whose default behaviour will be to provide AUV shoaling functionality and the maintenance of swarm coherence. Collective discrimination of environmental properties will be processed on an individualor on a collective-level given the cognitive capabilities of the AUVs. We will investigate collective self-recognition through experiments inspired by ethology and psychology, allowing for the quantification of collective cognition.

This paper describes the development of a new biorobotic platform inspired by the lamprey. Design, fabrication and implemented control are all based on biomechanical and neuroscientific findings on this eel-like fish. The lamprey model has been extensively studied and characterized in recent years because it possesses all basic functions and control mechanisms of higher vertebrates, while at the same time having fewer neurons and simplified neural structures. The untethered robot has a flexible body driven by compliant actuators with proprioceptive feedback. It also has binocular vision for vision-based navigation. The platform has been successfully and extensively experimentally tested in aquatic environments, has high energy efficiency and is ready to be used as investigation tool for high level motor tasks.

The design of a smart robot for colonoscopy is challenging because of the limited available space, slippery internal surfaces, and tortuous 3D shape of the human colon. Locomotion forces applied by an endoscopic robot may damage the colonic wall and/or cause pain and discomfort to patients. This study reports a S oft P neumatic I nchworm D ouble balloon (SPID) mini-robot for colonoscopy consisting of two balloons connected by a 3 degrees of freedom soft pneumatic actuator. SPID has an external diameter of 18 mm, a total length of 60 mm, and weighs 10 g. The balloons provide anchorage into the colonic wall for a bio-inspired inchworm locomotion. The proposed design reduces the pressure applied to the colonic wall and consequently pain and discomfort during the procedure. The mini-robot has been tested in a deformable plastic colon phantom of similar shape and dimensions to the human anatomy, exhibiting efficient locomotion by its ability to deform and negotiate flexures and bends. The mini-robot is made of elastomer and constructed from 3D printed components, hence with low production costs essential for a disposable device.

The bioinspired approach has been key in combining the disciplines of robotics with neuroscience in an effective and promising fashion. Indeed, certain aspects in the field of neuroscience, such as goal-directed locomotion and behaviour selection, can be validated through robotic artefacts. In particular, swimming is a functionally important behaviour where neuromuscular structures, neural control architecture and operation can be replicated artificially following models from biology and neuroscience. In this article, we present a biomimetic system inspired by the lamprey, an early vertebrate that locomotes using anguilliform swimming. The artefact possesses extra- and proprioceptive sensory receptors, muscle-like actuation, distributed embedded control and a vision system. Experiments on optimised swimming and on goal-directed locomotion are reported, as well as the assessment of the performance of the system, which shows high energy efficiency and adaptive behaviour. While the focus is on providing a robotic platform for testing biological models, the reported system can also be of major relevance for the development of engineering system applications.

The mechanical design of a novel robotic module for\ud a self-reconfigurable modular robotic system is presented in this\ud paper. The robotic module, named Scout robot, was designed to\ud serve both as a fully sensorized autonomous miniaturized robot\ud for exploration in unstructured environments and as a module of a\ud larger robotic organism. The Scout robot has a quasi-cubic shape\ud of 105 mm × 105 mm × 123.5 mm, and weighs less than 1 kg. It\ud is provided with tracks for 2-D locomotion and with two rotational\ud DoFs for reconfiguration and macrolocomotion when assembled in\ud a modular structure. A laser sensor was incorporated to measure\ud the distance and relative angle to an object, and image-guided\ud locomotion was successfully demonstrated. In addition, five Scout\ud robot prototypes were fabricated, and multimodal locomotion of\ud assembled robots was demonstrated