Scientists Construct a Multi-Armed Soft Robot That Mimics the Movements of an Octopus

Researchers in Italy are currently constructing a multi-armed soft robot that functions in and out of water. Employing the concepts of embodied intelligence and biomimicry, the team looked to the incredible abilities of an octopus as its guide.

To build their squishy aquatic robots, a team of researchers in Italy drew inspiration from the octopus. The animal’s movements don’t require a lot of brainpower. Rather than relying on top-down instructions from the central nervous system, many of an octopus’s movements happen almost spontaneously–the result of the physical interplay between the animal’s body and its surrounding environment.