Robotic Manipulators Inspired by Cephalopod Limbs

This paper connects the investigation of the biomechanics and behavior of octopus in the performance of a wide range of dexterous manipulations to the creation of octopus arm-like robots. This is achieved via the development of a series of octopus arm models which aid in both explaining the underlying octopus biomechanics and in developing a specification for the design of robotic manipulators. Robotic manipulators which match the key features of these models are then introduced, followed by the development of inverse kinematics for the circular (constant) curvature model.