The manufacturers of most robots are inspired by animals with rigid skeletons. Thus, their machines are easier to build and program, and more predictable behavior. But this limits them to very specific patterns of movement and they can fall short in certain scenarios, which is why some experts have begun to take as models the octopus tentacles or the bodies of the snakes.
Instead of being composed of large rigid parts, these robots have several independent chained modules that move autonomously. Some are even built with flexible materials, like rubber, or with smart metals capable of changing shape when receiving an electric current or heat.
This makes them ideal machines, for example, to search through debris or move through uneven terrain with ease and with a lower energy expenditure than robots with other propulsion systems. They can also take objects of different sizes safely, as we do with our fingers. Its movement is much more natural and reminds that of living beings.
The potential of these flexirrobots is such that there is already an association of researchers and manufacturers dedicated only to this field: RoboSoft. The organization holds an annual meeting to show the most advanced designs and the latest in materials, manufacturing techniques or software.
Photo (The Biorobotics Institute): Octopus, created by scientists Richard Bonser and Cecilia Laschi, perceives, grabs and squeezes objects as an octopus would. It is a robot for underwater tasks.
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