Improving performance of robots using human-inspired approaches: a survey

Realizing high performance of ordinary robots is one of the core problems in robotic research. Improving the performance of ordinary robots usually relies on the collaborative development of multiple research fields, resulting in high costs and difficulty to complete some high-precision tasks. As a comparison, humans can realize extraordinary overall performance under the condition of limited computational-energy consumption and low absolute precision in sensing and controlling each body unit. Therefore, developing human-inspired robotic systems and algorithms is a promising avenue to improve the performance of robotic systems. In this review, the cutting-edge research work on human-inspired intelligent robots in decision-making, cognition, motion control, and system design is summarized from behavior- and neural-inspired aspects. This review aims to provide a significant insight into human-inspired intelligent robots, which may be beneficial for promoting the integration of neuroscience, machinery, and control, so as to develop a new generation of robotic systems.