The manufacturers of most robots are inspired by animals with rigid skeletons. This makes your machines easier to build and program, and more predictable in behavior. But this limits them to very particular movement patterns and that can fall short in certain scenarios, which is why some experts have begun to take the tentacles of the octopus or the bodies of snakes as a model.
Instead of being made up of large rigid pieces, these robots have several independent modules linked together that move autonomously. Some are even built with flexible materials, such as rubber, or with smart metals capable of changing shape when receiving an electrical current or heat.
This makes them ideal machines, for example, to search through rubble or move over uneven terrain with ease and with less energy consumption than robots with other propulsion systems. They can also safely grasp objects of different sizes, as we do with our fingers. Their movement is much more natural and reminiscent 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 showcase 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, grasps, and squeezes objects like an octopus would. It is a robot for underwater tasks.
