Here's a new use for coffee:
News article: Robotic tentacle targets keyhole surgery - BBC News
Journal paper: A bioinspired soft manipulator for minimally invasive surgery - Abstract - Bioinspiration & Biomimetics - IOPscience
Java "Coffee, tea, or....surgery?" phile
Italian engineers have built a robotic arm, aimed at improving surgical operations and inspired by the octopus.
Just like its aquatic inspiration, the robotic tentacle has no rigid skeleton; it can bend, stretch and switch between flexible and rigid states as required.
Its movement is driven by inflatable compartments and its stiffness by a central tube containing a specially selected granular medium: coffee.
When suction is applied, the granules "jam" to create the desired rigidity.
Just like its aquatic inspiration, the robotic tentacle has no rigid skeleton; it can bend, stretch and switch between flexible and rigid states as required.
Its movement is driven by inflatable compartments and its stiffness by a central tube containing a specially selected granular medium: coffee.
When suction is applied, the granules "jam" to create the desired rigidity.
Journal paper: A bioinspired soft manipulator for minimally invasive surgery - Abstract - Bioinspiration & Biomimetics - IOPscience
Java "Coffee, tea, or....surgery?" phile

Comment