We would like to
- Use biological inspiration to create novel, flexible manipulator structures that are inherently capable of morphing their state from completely soft to entirely articulated,
- Create novel control strategies based on biological inspiration taken from octopus,
- Embed distributed sensing (tactile as well as position) to enable cognitive development and intelligent control in a highly redundant manipulation device,
- Advance learning and cognitive reasoning in a complete embodiment of a hyper-redundant manipulation system that experiences and learns from physical interactions with its environment,
- Provide a practical solution to the important areas of minimally invasive surgery with great commercial potential and impact,
- Bring together a multi-disciplinary team of scientific experts from engineering, biologists and medicine to progress a novel manipulation concept from an initial idea to a testable prototype.
