Modelling and control of manipulators for inspection and maintenance in challenging environments: A literature review

Nowadays, the use of robotic systems for inspection and maintenance is gaining importance due to the number of scenarios in which robots can operate. Indeed, robotic systems provide many advantages in harsh and hostile environments, improving workers’ safety and overall efficiency. Given their ability to perform different tasks, robotic manipulators constitute a significant proportion of the possible robotic systems employed in these environments. The category of manipulators is a heterogeneous group that comprises many different types of robots: non-redundant, redundant, and hyper-redundant manipulators, the latter being subdivided into discrete-joint manipulators and continuum manipulators. Among these types of robots, hyper-redundant manipulators play a crucial role in operating in challenging environments due to their ability to perform auxiliary tasks, such as obstacle avoidance and joint limits satisfaction. Furthermore, manipulators can be made of rigid or soft mechanisms and can be mobile, operating in aerial, ground, and underwater environments. The objective of this review article is to provide a reference point for researchers interested in modelling and controlling manipulators for inspection and maintenance in challenging environments. •Robots are crucial in the inspection and maintenance of challenging environments.•Manipulators constitute a significant proportion of the employed robotic systems.•Manipulators, fixed or mobile, can be non-redundant, redundant, and hyper-redundant.•Hyper-redundant manipulators can be divided into discrete-joint and continuum ones.•A systematic literature review of modelling and control manipulators is presented.