An elephant never forgets. To hunt and destroy Sarah Connor.
Engineers have often molded their robotic creations on existent animal physiology. Nature has had millions of years in the R & D lab known as evolution to tweak its designs, so it makes sense for engineers to build upon this tried and tested groundwork.
One new example of Wild Kingdom-inspired robotics comes from German automated technology company Festo. They recently unveiled a robotic arm they’ve dubbed a “Bionic Handling Assistant.” The robotic arm is inspired by the natural world’s representatives to the
Republican party, the Elephant. The swaying cyber-trunk is a product of Festo’s inter-disciplinary Bionic Learning Network which was created with the specific aim of incorporating existent designs of the natural world into modern robotics.
The robot arm is able to move in a variety of directions and pick up small objects. The robotic trunk is also revolutionary in that it is complete free from any metal parts. Festo hopes the arm will find a role in medical technology, agriculture, and
“institutes of learning” (I don’t know if they thought that last one through).
So, anyway, yes, we now have robot elephants.
Videos of robo-Dumbos in action after the jump.