The rob-octopus

         When an octopus needs to make a quick escape, it propels itself through the water at speeds of up to 25mph (40km/h).Inspired by these super fast, underwater movements, researchers from Greece have developed a robotic version of the tentacled creature.
       Complete with webbed arms and a streamlined head, the robotic octopus travels at half its 14-inch (360mm) body length every second.
       The robotic octopus was developed by the Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas in Greece. Early experiments used thin, silicon arms to propel the robot through water, but the team has since added ‘webs’ (pictured) to increase speed. It now travels at half its 14-inch (360mm) body length per secondIt was developed by the Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas (Forth) in Greece.
        Early experiments used thinner, silicon arms to propel the robot through water, but the team has since added ‘webs’ between these arms to increase speed.
        The eight-armed robot was presented at the IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems.The research was led by Dimitris Tsakiris was a finalist for two different best paper awards at the conference in Chicago earlier this month.
        According to the team’s tests, the robotic octopus swims at just over 3.9 inches (10cm) per second when fitted with silicon arms only.
        However, adding webs between these arms increases the speed to 7 inches (18cm) – or half its body length - per second.In addition, the robot’s efficiency - the ratio of the energy exerted compared to the resulting speed – is improved with the webs.
         A video of the robot reveals these speed differences, and shows the robot octopus crawling through the water in a tank.
It also shows the robotic octopus carrying a ball, swimming in the sea, and being followed by small fish.As a result, the researchers claim the robot could be used to monitor fish numbers and underwater environment, in a more discreet way.
        ‘The eight-arm robot is inspired by the morphology and outstanding locomotor capabilities of the octopus,’ explained the researchers in their paper.‘Underwater experiments demonstrate a novel mode of underwater propulsion by combining various patterns of sculling movements of the arms and web, and the efficiency of the swimmer, especially with the addition of the web, in terms of the attained velocities, the generated propulsive forces and the cost of transport.’
         The paper is named 'Multi-arm Robotic Swimming With Octopus-Inspired Compliant Web'.