2022 Annual Report 2022 | Page 48

Octa-glove picks up a card underwater in Michael Bartlett ’ s lab .
with light pressure , ideal for adhering to both flat and curved surfaces .
Having developed the adhesive mechanisms , they also needed a way for the glove to sense objects and trigger the adhesion . For this , they brought in Assistant Professor Eric Markvicka from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln , who added an array of micro-LIDAR optical proximity sensors that detect how close an object is . The suckers and LIDAR were then connected through a microcontroller to pair the object sensing with the sucker engagement , thus mimicking the nervous and muscular systems of an octopus .
Using the sensors to engage the suckers also makes the system adaptable . In a natural environment , an octopus winds its arms around crags in rocks and surfaces , attaching to smooth shells and rough barnacles . The research team also wanted something that felt natural to humans and allowed them to pick things up effortlessly , adapting to different shapes and sizes as an octopus would . Their solution was a glove with synthetic suckers and sensors tightly integrated together , a harmony of wearable systems grabbing many different shapes underwater . They called it Octa-glove .
“ By merging soft , responsive adhesive materials with embedded electronics , we can grasp objects without having to squeeze ,” said Bartlett . “ It makes handling wet or underwater objects much easier and more natural . The electronics can activate and release adhesion quickly . Just move your hand toward an object , and the glove does the work to grasp . It can all be done without the user pressing a single button .”
PUTTING ON THE GLOVE
In testing , the researchers tried a few different gripping modes . To manipulate delicate and lightweight objects ,
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