Soft grip: Pneumatic elastomers as robotic arms

Soft grip: Pneumatic elastomers as robotic arms: "How the component deforms depends on both the design and the materials used. Whitesides and his co-workers joined parts made of two different stiff silicon elastomers to program the movement. They were thus able to make starfish-like grabbers. Inflating these devices causes them to curl around an object to grasp it like fingers on a hand. Their touch is so soft that they can even be entrusted with a raw egg or a living mouse. In contrast to hard robotic arms, no complex precisely tuned control with sensors is necessary."