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.

ESO WFI Telescope Image: 'Elephant Trunk' Space Clouds Surround Star Cluster - Video

The new photo shows a mysterious ring and structures known as "elephant trunks" — huge columns of interstellar dust and gas. You can watch the video fly-through of the new space cloud photos provided by ESO.

Astronomers used the European Southern Observatory's La Silla Observatory to capture the amazing new images of the space clouds around the distant star cluster NGC 3572.

"This new image shows how these clouds of gas and dust have been sculpted into whimsical bubbles, arcs and the odd features known as elephant trunks by the stellar winds flowing from this gathering of hot young stars," ESO officials wrote in an image description.

The Wide Field Imager on the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile has captured the best image so far of the star cluster NGC 3572, a gathering of young stars, and its spectacular surroundings. 

Image released Nov. 13, 2013. 

Credit: ESO/G. Beccari

Another interesting aspect of the new image is a ring-shaped nebula located a bit above the center of the picture.

Scientists aren't sure what the origin of the nebula is, but they think it might be a leftover from the cloud of material that formed the star cluster, or it could be a bubble around a hot star.

Some astronomers also suggest that it could be a planetary nebula — the remains of a dying sun-like star.

Stars in clusters might have formed at around the same time, but they are incredibly diverse in size, temperature, colour and mass, ESO officials said.

"These gangs of young stars stick together for a relatively short time, typically tens or hundreds of millions of years," ESO officials said.

"They are gradually disbanded by gravitational interactions, but also because the most massive stars are short-lived, burning through their fuel quickly and ultimately ending their lives in violent supernova explosions, thus contributing to the dispersion of the remaining gas and stars in the cluster."