Scientists develop an octopus-inspired GLOVE that lets divers grasp objects underwater

Have you ever lost your grip on something that you've dropped into the swimming pool, or worse, toilet? Pictured is the octa-glove picking up a Virginia Tech playing card underwater The glove's suckers were designed to adhere to flat, curved, smooth and rough surfaces on objects of different shapes and sizes with only light pressure - just as an octopus' would An octopus has eight long arms that are able to take hold of objects of any type of surface in an aquatic environment, which proved the inspiration for the octa-glove HOW WERE THE OCTA-GLOVES MADE? The latter is integrated with processing and control to sense objects Suckers and sensors were added to the glove and connected through a microcontroller, thus mimicking the nervous and muscular systems of an octopus. After the suckers were attached to a glove, the engineers tested them on delicate and lightweight objects using only one sensor The engineers found that the glove could quickly pick up and release flat objects, metal toys, cylinders, the double-curved portion of a spoon, and an ultrasoft hydrogel ball. Postdoctoral researcher Ravi Tutika said: 'These capabilities mimic the advanced manipulation, sensing, and control of cephalopods and provide a platform for synthetic underwater adhesive skins that can reliably manipulate diverse underwater objects, 'This is certainly a step in the right direction, but there is much for us to learn both about the octopus and how to make integrated adhesives before we reach nature's full gripping capabilities.'