Doctor Octopus' Robot Arms Now A Reality

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Stan Lee should be honored.

If Stan Lee were to set his eyes on Festo's latest robotic creation, he would undoubtedly feel flattered knowing the device was one step closer to creating an honest Dr. Octopus. On the other hand, the Bionic Handling Assistant was crafted after elephant trunks.

As seen in the video below, the Doctor Octopus tentacles were designed to crush Spider-Man in one grip. Wait.. no, they're only meant to delicately handle fruit and other objects (brains) that can be easily damaged by other robotic means. "A significant advantage over heavy industrial robots is the fact that direct contact between humans and machines is now no longer hazardous," Festo claims.

Apparently Festo hopes to see these "Assistants" take over the automotive market, kicking out the clunky, decrepit 1st generation of robotic arms. To see the Bionic Handling Assistant, check out the video below. Viewer beware: we're not responsible for the nightmares endured thereafter.

Kevin Parrish

Kevin started taking PCs apart in the 90s when Quake was on the way and his PC lacked the required components. Since then, he’s loved all things PC-related and cool gadgets ranging from the New Nintendo 3DS to Android tablets. He is currently a contributor at Digital Trends, writing about everything from computers to how-to content on Windows and Macs to reviews of the latest laptops from HP, Dell, Lenovo, and more. 

23 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Duesouth
    somewhat old but new with a twist, just look at a car manufacturing plant, everything is almost all automatic robots. assembler, welding, all done well the car is being assemble along a conveyor. so just another robotic thing.
    Reply
  • ryanjm
    Pretty cool, but not sure why they went with the 'elephant trunk' design. My arm/hand is much more advanced. Fingers and thumbs are some of the most advanced grasping/manipulating tools in the animal kingdom.
    Reply
  • wolfseeker2828
    It is important, though, it's a significantly safer model, since it has enough dexterity to handle things like fruit and won't cut off limbs if someone gets caught in the way. It also allows for more demanding use of the robots - they can be used for smaller and more sensitive things now.
    Reply
  • Marco925
    Apparently Festo hopes to see these "Assistants" take over the automotive market, kicking out the clunky, decrepit 1st generation of robotic arms. To see the Bionic Handling Assistant, check out the video below. Viewer beware: we're not responsible for the nightmares endured thereafter.

    Now instead of financial issues causing layoffs of North american jobs, We can see Doctor Octopus putting these people out of work in his new sinister plot to destroy spiderman.
    Reply
  • Shadow703793
    This looks like the claws of the Machines in Matrix....
    Reply
  • mlopinto2k1
    Give it to Hawking, maybe he can finally scratch his own ass.
    Reply
  • grillz9909
    But can they play crysis?
    Reply
  • drutort
    these hands are far too slow for the auto industry... i mean have you seen CNC machines go? the rapids on those are insane and so the same on some of the robotic hands... true maybe they didnt show the full speed or power of them but if they move as seen here its pretty slow :P though they could do a lot more in the same amount of space i would assume and do really odd shapes unlike conventional robotic hands need a great amount of degrees of freedom to move about
    Reply
  • lolsir
    Spiderman FTW
    Reply
  • shin0bi272
    Maybe this will put an end to the stranglehold union labor has on the American car market.
    Reply