Robotic Octopus Arm More Than Just A Gadget

Researchers in Italy have created a soft-bodied robotic octopus arm. The waterproof limb is designed to mimic an octopus appendage as a model for underwater rescue robots of the future. British surgeons believe the technology could also be applied to an endoscope that can perform surgery.

The waterproof arm is made from silicone and soft rubber wrapped around a steel cable.  It mimics the limb of a real octopus, whose unusual, elastic musculature, enables it to squeeze into tight spots.


Previous bio-inspired soft robots have been unable to grasp and manipulate objects and this new technology opens up many possibilities. British surgeons want to apply it to an endoscope for use in operations.

The team hope to have a complete, eight-armed robot ready within a year.

The arm was built by scientists at the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna near the coast of Tuscany.
Professor Cecilia Laschi heads the team.  Laschi says. "The usual robotic vehicles that you use in the sea cannot go very close to the bottom. Instead the octopus could be really go and explore the sea bottom."

She designed purposely this special braid which provides this flexibility but also the possibility to elongate the arm and shorten it.

"We designed this special braid which provides this flexibility but also the possibility to elongate the arm and shorten it. It has suckers that are very important in the animal for grasping. So we put our artificial tactile sensors under the suckers so that the robot can perceive contact when grasping objects."




Reuters