From the octopus to soft robot control: an octopus inspired behaviour control architecture for soft robots

In recent years, breakthroughs have been made in both biology and robotics by the close cooperation between biologists and roboticists. Researchers in the fields of octopus biological study and soft robotics can also benefit from working together and inspiring each other. However, this collaboration is not easy because of the different research motivations and terminologies used. This paper starts from challenges for controlling soft robots, through biological inspirations from the octopus, to their engineering interpretation for creating a behavior control architecture for soft robots. Hypotheses related to the octopus biology from the engineering perspective are also proposed. This work serves as a case study in biologist-roboticist collaboration. It wishes to promote mutual understanding and cooperation between these two disciplines.