While its name might make it sound like a farcical sci-fi movie scheme the Octopus Project is a hard science endeavor to create new, next generation soft-robots.
In the past few years soft-robots have been getting a lot of attention. Unlike their hard bodied predecessors soft-robots have the ability contort their shape, making them ideally suited for a number of operations including search and rescue.
In an attempt to advance the field of soft-robotics researchers at 6 European universities are working to create an eight legged soft-robot based on the morphology of an Octopus.
According the Octopus Project’s website, “the OCTOPUS IP is investigating and understanding the principles that give rise to the octopus sensory-motor capabilities”. With that knowledge the research team wants to create “an embodied artefact, based broadly on the anatomy of the 8-arm body of an octopus, and with similar performance in water, in terms of dexterity, speed, control, flexibility, and applicability.”
While it may be a while before you find an Octo-bot swimming in an ocean near you, it’s clear that researchers are making steady progress. Take a look:
Image and Video Courtesy of the Octopus Project