28/07/2014: An 'octopus' robot for the depths

For years, roboticists have yearned to develop a flexible machine that can explore tight spaces, repair dangerous equipment and potentially even conform to the human body. 

 

PoseiDrone's soft arms can help it to navigate rocky, uneven surfaces. The robot can also propel itself by expelling water from its flexible body. Credit M. Brega/The Age of Robots

That is being achieved in  a small seaside laboratory, where researchers have been tinkering away on a prototype of a multi-armed robot they call PoseiDrone for the sea god Poseidon.

It's an octopus, because octopuses can swim, crawl and manipulate objects, they make “the ideal underwater robot,” said Francesco Giorgio-Serchi, a scientist at the Research Center on Sea Technologies and Marine Robotics in Livorno, Italy, who is working on the project. 

Read more HERE.

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