The octopus as paradigm for soft robotics

Abstract

Looking at an octopus from the roboticist view point it is easy to understand why it is considered a paradigmatic example for soft robotics: its arms are soft and deformable, they can bend in any direction, at any point along the arm; however, they can stiffen when needed and they can grasp and pull objects with considerable strength; the octopus does not have a large brain, yet it can control this huge amount of possible movements and motion parameters. These observations together with the growing need for robots in service tasks, in unstructured environments, in contact with humans, is leading to release the basic assumption of rigid parts in robotics and to the development of new enabling technologies for a new generation of soft robots for marine and surgical robotics.