Researchers have used deceased
spiders’ legs as mechanical grippers in a macabre experiment.
Rice University mechanical engineers have been developing ‘necrobotics’ based on existing research of using non-traditional materials like hydrogels and elastomers that can reach to chemicals or light – in this instance using a spider that they killed and experimented on.
“This area of soft robotics is a lot of fun because we get to use previously untapped types of actuation and materials,”
Daniel Preston of Rice’s
George R. Brown School of Engineeringsaid
“The spider falls into this line of inquiry. It’s something that hasn’t been used before but has a lot of potential.”
Spiders use hydraulics to move their limbs, rather than muscles. A chamber near their head contracks to send blood to the limbs, and when it expands the legs extend and release……
https://www.independent.co.uk/tech/scientists-kill-dead-spider-necrobot-claw-b2133956.html