Present Day

The octopus is an absolutely wondrous creature. Its superior flexibility is due to the fact that it’s made up of almost nothing but pure muscle. With its agile swimming and ability to grip a whole assortment of objects in a form-fitting manner, the octopus serves as the perfect source for the future of soft robotics.

Which is why robotics company Festo, in cooperation with the School of Mechanical Engineering and Automation at Beihang University (BUAA), has developed a new robot with a grip akin to our dear cephalopods – the OctopusGripper! Created under Festo’s Bionic Learning Network, the OctopusGripper is scaled at 22cm long and weighs only 190 grams. Despite this, however, with its 10 passive suction cups and 8 active suction cups, the robot is able to provide a working pressure of 29 psi.

Normally, in an industrial setting, companies must actively replace varying grippers to accommodate different workpieces. With the OctopusGripper, however, with its pneumatically-controlled soft silicone structure, its tentacle is capable of gripping nearly any object thrown its way using a combination of force fitting and vacuum. And because of its soft structure, made up of molded silicone, the robot is perfectly safe to humans in the workplace.