Automation specialist Festo has revealed its latest creation, a pneumatic robot that takes cues from the movements of an elephant’s trunk and an octopus’s tentacles.
The BionicMotionRobot can travel through 12 degrees of freedom and lift payloads equal to is own weight of 3kg. It’s composed of three modular segments, each of which contains four pneumatic bellows made from an elastomer. According to Festo, the bellows are covered with a special 3D textile knitted fabric that mimics tentacle muscles, allowing movement in the desired direction while restricting it in others.
Multiple attachments can be fixed to the end of the arm, including a vacuum suction cup, a robotic hand, and the company’s OctopusGripper which can gently grasp and release objects. Festo says the robot could be used for mundane or dangerous factory processes, as well as for collaborative work alongside humans.
“…as well as for collaborative work alongside humans.”
There must be millions of humans, annoyed by their present partner’s moods, and anger, rages, failures, etc who cannot wait to get their hands (sorry!) on such a perceptive partner, without the down sides!
” special 3D textile knitted fabric ”
We simple textile folk have long believed (at least this one has!) that there are many properties within our ‘domain’ just waiting for application in Engineering. I used to remind students that when we are born, the first thing in which we are all wrapped is textile, when we die, the last thing we are wrapped in is ‘textile’ and inbetween, except when we are in the shower, we will be continuously touched by textiles. Creation of surfaces with special and definable properties, with full flexibility, with strength, elongation, tenacity, massive extension(s) and return to original properties and size…Just ask us, you will be amazed what we can do. There was a lovely advertisment current in the later 60s from my then employer ICI Fibres. “We may have thought of the answer, before you have thought of the question”!