Precision “Glove-Controlled” deep-sea soft gripper

Vincent Pieribone, PhD, and other researchers at the John B. Pierce Laboratory in collaboration with the Wyss Institute, Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), Baruch College, and the University of Rhode Island (URI) have developed a delicate and dexterous soft-gripper controlled remotely by a glove allowing deep-sea researchers to gather marine organisms and plant-life as if they were SCUBA diving.  From within the protective confines of a manned submersible at extreme depths, researchers wear the glove to control the externally mounted soft-gripper.  Sea creatures, coral and plant life can be gently grasped, examined, photographed in their native habitats and sampled or released with minimal disturbance.  The article was just published in Scientific Reports.  (Read Article)