July 31 – Italian “soft” research confirms itself as cutting edge, as the New York Times writes about Italian technology studies. The Livorno-based Research Center for Sea Technologies Marine Robotics of the Biorobotics Institute at Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna of Pisa was the focus of Katherine Harmon Courage’s article on “A tentacled, flexible breakthrough – An octopus-like machine stretches the limits of robots,” accompanied, in its internet version, by a video. Thanks to “soft robotics” and these two projects – both inspired by the animal and his dexterity – Livorno, Pisa and Tuscany have arrived on the print and virtual pages of one of the most famous newspapers in the world. The article presents the two robotics projects “Octopus” and “Poseidrone”, the latter developed thanks to funding provided by the Livorno Foundation. Usually, robots are imagined as rigid entities. In Livorno, on the other hand, the Institute is taking on a new challenge, contributing to the development of “flexible,” soft, snappy and agile robots just like an octopus. The European project “Octopus”, now completed, was coordinated by the Deputy Director of the Institute, Cecilia Laschi, along with Director Paolo Dario. But if “Octopus” is over, the challenge continues, as shows the New York Times.
