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Robotic technology has come a long way in terms of intelligence, durability and power. But what about finesse?
Would you trust a robot to crack open an egg, build a house of cards or -- here's the kicker for the Internet generation -- handle a baby kitten? Probably not.
The Whitesides Research Group at Harvard University, however, has been busy developing a series of "soft robots" -- robots with a more delicate, human-like touch.
A newly released video shows their latest tentacle creation twisting around a flower without causing any damage to it. Watch it above.
The tentacle is made of flexible plastic with three different air channels running through its interior. By strategically pumping air into its channels, researchers were able to bend it and make it curl around objects with a soft grip.
This kind of technology would be ideal for working in confined, hard-to-reach spaces. The only downside: The need for air channels makes it difficult to shrink down to any size under a few centimeters.