So this creepy looking gadget is the newest offering from Festo, a pneumatic and electrical automation manufacturer. It’s a robotic arm that uncannily resembles something from the deep blue sea. Appropriately named the OctoGripper, this uber flexible device is built with a soft silicone structure that can be pneumatically controlled. It bends inward to grip items with its double rows of suction cups, creating a vacuum and allowing the gripper to hold onto objects tightly while moving quickly – apparently this is a common issue in robotics.
Coupled with the company’s other invention, the BionicMotion Robot, which was inspired by an elephant’s trunk, the OctoGripper will make working with machines much safer for humans – once they get past the creepiness of it all.