It’s a squid, it’s an octopus, it’s… it’s a robot tentacle.
This Robot Tentacle is unique in that it can grasp things softly without breaking them. It’s a soft robot, so it is able to move very flexibly and easily. This newest soft robot tentacle can curl around a flower and not damage it.
The soft robot has three air channels that can inflate and deflate to change the pressure and direction, allowing it to curl around with a delicate grasp. Also, this new kind of soft robot allows the tentacle curl in all three dimensions, whereas past robots have been restricted to only single dimensional curves.
The robot was made at Harvard University, and they’re currently trying putting different things on the end of the tentacle, including a camera, suction cups, or syringe, making the range of possibilities for a robot tentacle nearly endless.
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