Communications of the ACM
The Tentacle Bot
Researchers have developed an octopus-inspired robot can grip, move, and manipulate a wide range of objects
Credit: Elias Knubben, Zhexin Xie, August Domel, Li Wen
Researchers at Harvard University's John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and Beihang University in China have engineered an octopus-inspired soft robotic arm that grasps, moves, and manipulates objects of all shapes, sizes, and textures.
Explained Beihang’s Zhexin Xie, “We mimicked the general structure and distribution of these suckers for our soft actuators. Although our design is much simpler than its biological counterpart, these vacuum-based biomimetic suckers can attach to almost any object.”
Harvard’s August Domel added, “Our research is the first to quantify the tapering angles of the arms and the combined functions of bending and suction, which allows for a single small gripper to be used for a wide range of objects that would otherwise require the use of multiple grippers.”
From Harvard University John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
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Abstracts Copyright © 2020 SmithBucklin, Washington, DC, USA
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