Octoarm: Flexible 'Tentacle Robots' Could Aid Planetary Exploration

Flexible 'tentacle robots' can stack cones and perform other complex tasks. 

Credit: Ian Walker, Clemson University

Space robots are about to get a whole lot sleeker and slinkier.

Researchers are developing new types of robotic systems inspired by elephant trunks, octopus arms and giraffe tongues.

These flexible, maneuverable "tentacle robots" could have a variety of space applications, from inspecting hard-to-reach gear on the International Space Station to exploring crevices on Mars, scientists say.

"Those are all things that would be difficult for a conventional robot to do," robotic engineer Ian Walker of Clemson University said in April during a presentation with NASA's Future In-Space Operations (FISO) working group.

Robotic systems inspired by elephant trunks, octopus arms and other structures found in nature could have a variety of space applications, experts say.

Credit: Ian Walker, Clemson University

The conventional robots to which Walker refers are mainstays of assembly lines around the world.

They tend to be anthropomorphic, often modeled after the human arm, and are built to do one thing and do it well, over and over again.

These machines perform precision tasks in highly structured environments, with limited flexibility and adaptability, Walker said.

"What we want to do is something rather different than that," he said. The goal is to develop "something that can adapt its shape more completely down its structure, and to be able to adapt to environments you haven't seen before. So it's the non-factory scenario, in many ways."

Such snakelike robots could aid spaceflight and exploration, Walker said.