A team in Blacksburg has invented a special type of glove that allows humans to grab slippery things easily while not holding them tightly. It’s very similar to an octopuses’ hand!
There is 1 sucker at each fingertip. One sucker can hold approximately one kilogram. The sucker’s size is as big as a raspberry. The sucker is coated with a thin, stretchy rubber sheet.
The suckers can grasp tightly onto the surface by pulling air out of the suckers. The suckers will release the object they are holding by putting air into the suckers.
Each sucker has a sensor. The sensor’s size is about the size of a Tic-Tac. When the sensor is close to objects, it detects them and switches the suckers to sticky mode automatically.
The glove can also pick up objects underwater. In team experiments, it’s able to pick up a toy car, a spoon, jelly, and a bowl. If they added more suckers, the glove would have an even stronger grip.
Michael Bartlett is a mechanical engineer on the team, and he works at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg. He said that “Being able to grasp things underwater could be good for search and rescue. It could be good for archaeology. [It also] could be good for marine biology.” He was inspired to add chemical sensors on the glove because octopuses have chemical-sensing cells in their suckers. The cells help octopuses taste their surroundings. The new version will allow humans to pick up specific items.
Link: https://s3.amazonaws.com/appforest_uf/f1659262531743x902836878034049300/Like%20an%20octopus%2C%20this%20glove%20lets%20fingers%20grip%20slippery%20objects%20_%20Science%20News%20Explores.pdf
There is 1 sucker at each fingertip. One sucker can hold approximately one kilogram. The sucker’s size is as big as a raspberry. The sucker is coated with a thin, stretchy rubber sheet.
The suckers can grasp tightly onto the surface by pulling air out of the suckers. The suckers will release the object they are holding by putting air into the suckers.
Each sucker has a sensor. The sensor’s size is about the size of a Tic-Tac. When the sensor is close to objects, it detects them and switches the suckers to sticky mode automatically.
The glove can also pick up objects underwater. In team experiments, it’s able to pick up a toy car, a spoon, jelly, and a bowl. If they added more suckers, the glove would have an even stronger grip.
Michael Bartlett is a mechanical engineer on the team, and he works at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg. He said that “Being able to grasp things underwater could be good for search and rescue. It could be good for archaeology. [It also] could be good for marine biology.” He was inspired to add chemical sensors on the glove because octopuses have chemical-sensing cells in their suckers. The cells help octopuses taste their surroundings. The new version will allow humans to pick up specific items.
Link: https://s3.amazonaws.com/appforest_uf/f1659262531743x902836878034049300/Like%20an%20octopus%2C%20this%20glove%20lets%20fingers%20grip%20slippery%20objects%20_%20Science%20News%20Explores.pdf
