Boneless, brainy, and ancient
November 28, 2001 | Source: KurzweilAI
The Octupus arm could very well be the basis of next-generation robotic arms for undersea, space, as well as terrestrial applications.
Each arm appears to contain an independent peripheral nervous system and neural circuitry, which carries out the order independent of any further involvement on the part of the brain itself.
“How the octopus controls each arm so that tasks can be performed without chaos, and without the need to spend enormous time in deciding how to perform a specific arm movement, is precisely what robotics designers would like to know,” says Tom McKenna, Office of Naval Research Program Manager on this study.