Researchers at BioRobotics Institute in Pisa, Italy are developing a robot that mimics the movements and flexibility of octopi. 

Aside from its beak, octopi have no hard parts in their physique. The soft characteristics of the animal allows it to enter nooks and crannies to catch prey by ambush or to escape would-be predators.

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Scientists at the BioRobotics Institute are trying to copy this ability in robots.

They have already developed a multiarmed prototype called the PoseiDrone, which is the most flexible robot to date.

With almost 90 percent of its body consisting of soft material, PoseiDrone has the capability to repair underwater hardware, explore cramped spaces and even rescue by wrapping its flexible arms around people.

3D printing technologies are used by PoseiDrone designer Francesco Giorgio-Serchi and his colleagues to foster the field of soft robotics. With 3D printers, the team is now capable of designing, modifying and experimenting rapidly.

While the team attempts to create a robot with an octopus' flexibility and unlimited field of motion, they also aim to recreate the animal's distinct nervous system.

Such animals have a brain but this only makes up one-third of the neurons in its body.

Two-thirds of its neurons are located in the octopus' arms, according to PubMed. Each of its eight arms has a plexus, a mass of nerves outside the central nervous system that provide autonomy to their corresponding arms.

For movement, the PoseiDrone mimics the way octopi move -- by expelling water from its body.

The drone, other soft machines and flexible hardware to control them are currently being studied by scientists.

Researchers at BioRobotics are employing methods in the field of biomimetics, a study of models, systems and elements of nature to solve complex human problems, according to Reading.

Aircraft designs based on birds and Speedo's "Fastskin bodysuit" are just a few applications of biomimetics. 

TagsMachines, biology research, Current Biology, Industrial robotics, Robotics, Robots, Octopus, Locomotion, technology, Research, scientific research, science research, Bioinspiration and Biomimetics