Design, Control, and Applications of Heavy-Duty Industrial Robots: A Focused Review

Heavy-duty industrial robots (HIRs) are essential for high-payload operations in the automotive, aerospace, and nuclear industries. However, existing reviews are often limited to specific domains or control methods. This paper provides a concise review of recent advances in HIRs from two perspectives: structural innovation and intelligent control. The review shows that structural design is evolving toward lightweight, robust, and maintainable architectures, while control strategies are increasingly shifting from conventional PID methods to adaptive, robust, and learning-based approaches to handle high inertia, nonlinear dynamics, and uncertainty. Representative applications, including friction stir welding and nuclear operations, are also summarized. Based on the reviewed literature, we identify several key challenges for future research, including structure–control co-design, energy-aware motion planning, robust autonomy in hazardous environments, safe human–robot collaboration, digital-twin-enabled lifecycle optimization, and interpretable fault diagnosis. These findings outline the research agenda for the next generation of HIRs.