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SpiRobs Soft Spiral Robotic Arm
SpiRobs is an octopus-inspired soft spiral robotic tentacle from University of Science and Technology of China, the team led by Nikolaos Freris.
(SpiRobs Soft Spiral Robotic Arm)
Part of a new class of soft robots, SpiRobs, this spiral robotic arm draws inspiration from the logarithmic spiral shapes of elephant trunks and octopus tentacles. Crafted through the advanced use of reverse engineering techniques, SpiRobs exhibit a range of complex, gripping maneuvers that include reeling, extending, winding, and grasping, achieving a remarkable 95 percent success rate in task execution.The robot’s design incorporates a sophisticated system of two or three cables that actuate the arm, enabling it to adjust its grip with a 15-degree conical angle. This feature allows the robot to handle objects widely in diameter and support loads up to 260 times its weight. Such capabilities were highlighted in a demonstration video where the robotic arm performed multiple tasks with astonishing precision and delicacy.
Science fiction writers led the way in imagining biomimicry robots like these. H.G. Wells was the first one to paint this picture in fiction (as far as I know); readers recall the steel tentacles from his 1898 novel War of the Worlds:
Seen nearer, the Thing was incredibly strange, for it was no mere insensate machine driving on its way. Machine it was, with a ringing metallic pace, and long, flexible, glittering tentacles (one of which gripped a young pine tree) swinging and rattling about its strange body.
Interestingly, the first attempt at creating robotic tentacles was led by Marvin Minsky:
“This film from 1968 shows Marvin Minsky’s tentacle arm, developed at the MIT AI Lab (one of CSAIL’s forerunner labs). The arm had twelve joints and could be controlled by a PDP-6 computer or via a joystick. This video demonstrates that the arm was strong enough to lift a person, yet gentle enough to embrace a child.”
(Video shows Minsky's 1968 tentacle robot arm)
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