# A Biologically Inspired Design Principle for Building Robust Robotic Systems

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2408.10192 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2408.10192/

## Key facts

- Cited by 1 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 19 Aug 2024.

## Built on by (most cited first, 1 of 1)

- [Probing an Embodied LLM: When Higher Observation Fidelity Hurts Problem Solving](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.20072/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Robustness, the ability of a system to maintain performance under significant and unanticipated environmental changes, is a critical property for robotic systems. While biological systems naturally exhibit robustness, there is no comprehensive understanding of how to achieve similar robustness in robotic systems. In this work, we draw inspirations from biological systems and propose a design principle that advocates active interconnections among system components to enhance robustness to environmental variations. We evaluate this design principle in a challenging long-horizon manipulation task: solving lockboxes. Our extensive simulated and real-world experiments demonstrate that we could enhance robustness against environmental changes by establishing active interconnections among system components without substantial changes in individual components. Our findings suggest that a systematic investigation of design principles in system building is necessary. It also advocates for interdisciplinary collaborations to explore and evaluate additional principles of biological robustness to advance the development of intelligent and adaptable robotic systems.