Biomimicry

A new developed approach to 3D printing has produced an octopus-inspired robotic device claimed to offer an unprecedented level of agility. Engineers crafted the artificial muscle using commercially available material and say it points to a future of advanced robotic devices inspired by nature.

"Most of us were born and will die a certain color, but octopuses are masters of their hue, changing from transparent to shades of red, pink, purple and blue by stretching and relaxing their skin. If we could unlock their secret and wrap our buildings in octopus skin, then city skylines might shimmer a spectrum of colors and opacities as the sun waxed and waned."

Studying the movements of creatures in the natural world is very useful to robotics as the latest version of a robotic octopus from Greece shows. But real octopodes could also learn from their robotic cousin, which uses its octopus-inspired anatomy to propel itself in new ways.

"A good deal of work is being done to improve how existing surgical procedures are performed by making rigid tools flexible and steerable. [...] One of the teams at TU Delft developed an arthroscopy tool that has a snake-like tip capable of bending in surprising ways. The so-called MultiFlex is an example of the bio-inspired approach that is at the heart of many of the tools being built at TU Delft. It takes ideas from octopus tentacles that have a bunch of muscle rods near the perimeter that work together to flex the tentacle well enough to be featured in horror movies."

"Surgeries might be easier and safer due to a new invention by researchers from the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies in Italy, a robotic arm that was inspired by tentacles of an octopus. 

The robotic arm device moves by using its inflatable chambers, imitating the natural motion of an octopus twisting and elongating its tentacles in any direction it desires."

"When you inflate a balloon and then release it without tying the valve shut, it certainly shoots away quickly. Octopi utilize the same basic principle, although they suck in and then rapidly expel water. An international team of scientists have now replicated that system in a soft-bodied miniature underwater vehicle, which could pave the way for very quickly-accelerating full-size submersibles."