Fans of Spider-Man’s arch-enemy Dr. Octopus now have reason to rejoice: researchers have managed to create the equivalent of robotic tentacles which can grasp, manipulate and lift objects. A team of scientists and engineers working on the OCTOR Project — partially funded by DARPA — are exploring “ways to bring the remarkable capabilities of muscular hydrostats such as octopus arms to robotics by designing, analyzing, and building continuum robots.”
According to the OCTOR Project site, the researchers are inspired by such real-world, non-rigid appendages as elephant trunks, mammal tongues and — you guessed it — octopus arms. It seems that traditional robotic claw and clamp appendages are unsuitable for some applications, so flexible appendages like these hold hope for new solutions to search and rescue and other dangerous missions.
Check out the official OCTOR Project page here, video of an appendage in action here, the DARPA Biodynotics page here, and a nice Dr. Octopus overview here. (Source: OCTOR Project) – [Jeff James]
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