Harvard researchers develop fully operational robot octopus

A ground-breaking robotic octopus with wiggling tentacles has been developed by Harvard University.  

Researchers claim the ‘Octobot’ is the first fully autonomous ‘soft’ robot, Engadget reported.  

The robot was inspired by the fluid movements of octopuses and has no rigid components.

It was created using a combination of 3-D printing, moulding and ‘soft lithography’, which involves the use of elastic fabric to build structures.

The robot’s tiny body, which is the size of an SD card, contains a fuel storage system which powers movement.

Octobot is able to wiggle its tentacles through a chemical reaction which turns hydrogen peroxide into gas.

It is hoped this version of the Octobot will “pave the way” for a more advanced model which can swim and crawl like a real octopus.

“The Octobot paves the way for a new generation of soft robots,”  researchers said in a statement.