Harvard Scientists Build Wild Rubber-tentacled Robot

VIA XINHUA NEWS AGENCYAn autonomous rubber-tapping robot works at a rubber plantation attached to a natural rubber industry company in south China's Hainan Province, Nov. 19, 2019. The robot recently started an on-site rubber tapping trial run with an aim of enhancing efficiency and automation of rubber production. (Photo by Yang Guanyu/Xinhua via Getty Images)

A new rubber-tentacled robot currently being developed. It’s a project creating a new technology that uses inflatable tentacles. HARVARD UNIVERSITY’S SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING AND APPLIED SCIENCES VIA SWNS

A new rubber-tentacled robot could be used to handle anything from fruit and vegetables to endangered coral. Most grippers rely on embedded sensors, complex feedback loops or advanced machine learning algorithms, combined with the skill of the operator. But researchers at Harvard University’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) in the US have created a new type that uses inflatable tentacles.