According to the latest researches of tensegrity robot, the characteristics of tensegrity robot are reviewed comprehensively and briefly, and the developments of typical prototypes are summarized. Furthermore, applications of tensegrity robot are introduced from three aspects of ground movement, space exploration and bionic field. On this basis, the key technologies are illustrated concerning initial configuration design, initial prestress analysis and structure stability judgment, morphology determination under external load, dynamic characteristics, and control methods. As last, technical problems of tensegrity robot to be studied in the future are discussed.

tensegrity robot  /  gait control  /  configuration design  /  form-finding method