Robot With Noodle-like Tentacles Is Surprisingly Gentle

Tentacle robot can gently grasp fragile objects. This spooky robot uses inflatable tentacles to grab delicate items. bunch of worm–like

Robot Develop Information

It would appear that scientists and engineers try to develop a better version of a robot claw machine around once every two weeks. They have even experimented with utilizing dead spiders in their research. Researchers from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have developed a new robot, and unlike previous robots, this one has tentacles. This development represents the most recent advancement in the field.

Robots advance planning

Robots have a notoriously hard time picking up soft objects, as doing so typically needs feedback loops and a significant amount of advance planning. The team developed a new kind of soft gripper, which was inspired by nature, and it contains twelve soft tentacles to entangle the things it is gripping. They are referred to by the researchers as fluidically actuated slender hollow elastomeric filaments.

The collective power of a jellyfish’s tentacles is greater than the power of any one tentacle when it comes to capturing prey. Because of this, the robot is able to carefully wrap itself around and then lift fragile objects without breaking them. The researchers have given this phenomenon the name active collective entanglement.

Tentacle robot can gently grasp fragile objects

“By taking advantage of the natural compliance of soft robotics and enhancing it with a compliant structure, we designed a gripper that is greater than the sum of its parts and a grasping strategy that can adapt to a range of complex objects with minimal planning and perception,” said Kaitlyn Becker, a former graduate student and postdoctoral fellow at SEAS who is also the first author of the study. Becker made these comments in a statement. Becker is also the first author of the study.

The question is, “How does it function?”

Previous grippers have relied on intricate feedback loops to function, but this one does its task by the use of straightforward pneumatics and inflation. Tentacles are hollow tubes that measure approximately 30 centimeters in length apiece and are nearly a foot long.

The remaining four tentacles are placed on a concentric circle with a diameter of 25 millimeters (0.98 inches). In contrast, eight of the tentacles are positioned on a circle with a diameter of 50 millimeters (1.9 inches). Because one side of each tube is thicker than the other, they curl when the tube is compressed because of the difference in thickness.

The remaining four tentacles are placed on a concentric circle with a diameter of 25 millimeters (0.98 inches). In contrast, eight of the tentacles are positioned on a circle with a diameter of 50 millimeters (1.9 inches). Because one side of each tube is thicker than the other, they curl when the tube is compressed because of the difference in thickness.

Although the grip as a whole is powerful enough to raise the thing, the individual tubes have a weak contact, which means they won’t damage the delicate surface of the item even if the hold is used. Even while not all of the twelve tentacles are used in every grab, the team believes that more tentacles may be introduced in order to boost the possibilities of a successful pickup and to entangle with each other.

Works Cited

Becker, Kaityln. “Creepy Robot With Noodle-Like Tentacles Is Surprisingly Gentle at Lifting Things.” IFLScience, 24 Oct. 2022, First Published in Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences of the United States Of America (PNAS)