In case you weren’t already terrified of robots that can jump over walls, fly or crawl, Army researchers are developing your next nightmare — a flexible, soft robot inspired by squid and other invertebrates.

And they want soldiers to be able to use 3D printers to make them on the battlefield.

The U.S. Army Research Laboratory and the University of Minnesota are developing materials that can be 3D printed based on the flexibility and nimbleness of invertebrates such as a squid, according to an ARL release.

DARPA wants to connect human brains and machines Neurotechnology would significantly increase the speed at which information is transferred from humans to machines, and a brain-systems interface may be a requirement to keep up with the pace and complexity of future combat zones.

Traditional materials are too rigid and limit certain types of movement that robots might require to get into “confined or restricted spaces,” said Ed Habtour, an ARL researcher.

The prototypes that Habtour and fellow ARL researchers developed gave 3D-printed actuators three times the movement as what’s been tested before.

The material that they’ve used in their testing will bend in any direction when hit with electricity.

“In the initial phase of the project, our team began by investigating new methods for emulating the locomotion of invertebrates,” said Michael McAlpine, a professor at the University of Minnesota.

× Interested in battlefield technologies? Sign up for the C4ISRNET newsletter about future battlefield technologies. Thanks for signing up. By giving us your email, you are opting in to the C4ISRNET Daily Brief.

That helped researchers learn how to apply the natural movement of invertebrates like squids to produce “high bending motions without skeletal support,” McAlpine said.

Because the material doesn’t have to be dried, heated or assembled, it would require little training and could be used for printable robots that soldiers could make and use whenever and wherever they’re needed.

“If we can understand these interactions, then we can use those insights to fabricate dynamic structures and flexible robots which are designed to be self-aware, self-sensing and capable of adjusting their morphologies and properties in real time to adapt to a myriad of external and internal conditions,” Habtour said.

The material is still in early development stages, so don’t expect to see a robot squid in the foxhole next to you tomorrow.