Abstract: Bionic robots are good performance mechanical and electrical systems which imitate biological structures and motion characteristics of organisms according to the principles of bionics. They have shown their potential use in the dangerous conditions to human beings, such as anti-terrorism, space exploration and rescue. The bionic robots can be divided into three types according to their work conditions, such as the land bionic robots, the air bionic robots, and the underwater bionic robots. The developments of the bionic robots have experienced three stages, such as original exploration, imitation of the biological prototypes’ appearances and motions, mechanical and electrical systems with partial biological properties. The research status at home and abroad of these three types robots is discussed. And several problems of the researches are found after analysis, such as the lack of the biological motion mechanism researches, the traditional construction, material, driving and controlling mode, and the low efficiency of the power, leading to the difference between robots and creatures. These problems make the bionic robots similar in shape to the creatures but very different in essence. So the bionic robots now days are absence of effective applications. The development trend is pointed out that the bionic robots are developing towards lifelike system, including moving toward the rigid-flexible mechanism, integration of the bionics construction, material and driver, neuron fine control, and the efficient power transformation.

Key words: bionic robot, integration of the construction in material and driver, lifelike system, rigid-flexible mechanism