ABSTRACT
Ocean organisms that lack a rigid skeleton provide inspiration for the design of soft and extensible robots capable of changing shape, stretching out, reaching around corners, and manipulating objects. The octopus, for instance, can dexterously move and arrange rocks and shells, and change its shape for streamlined swimming (Figure 3.1). Anemones can assume a cylindrical form and stand tall or contract to small round jelly-like blobs only a fraction of their full height (Figure 3.2). All are hydrostats, using the near incompressibility of water (or water-saturated tissue) to change shape, stiffness, and provide a rigid skeletonlike support for muscle.
