A 3D printed claw developed at theWYSS生物学启发工程研究所atHarvard University正在为生物学家提供一种工具，以最终了解生活在海底的软生物。
“The dream is to enclose delicate deep-sea animals, take 3D imagery that includes properties like hardness, 3D-print that animal at the surface, and also have a ‘toothbrush’ tickle the organism to obtain its full genome,” explains Harvard University marine biologist David Gruber in aninterviewfor边缘，“然后，我们将发布它。”
这项研究可以产生导致更多的发现bioinspired设计for everything from electronic devices through toairplane parts，并为不断增长的领域做出宝贵的贡献soft robotics。
An underwater pokéball
Wyss的爪装置称为RAD - 旋转型十二面体。RAD被描述为“水下宠物小球”，是使用的原则折纸。In doing so, the team have minimized the moving parts of the device, relying on a single motor to open and close the arms.
The entire device was 3D printed in translucent VEROCLEAR RGD810 polymer on a Stratasys Connex500 PolyJet 3D printer. Thinner edges on the RAD ensure that the device applies a soft-touch to the creatures it captures, avoiding any risk of accidental harm.
“我们接近这些动物，好像它们是艺术品一样，”adds Gruber, “Would we cut pieces out of the ‘Mona Lisa’ to study it? No — we’d use the most innovative tools available,”
“These deep-sea organisms, some being thousands of years old, deserve to be treated with a similar gentleness when we’re interacting with them.”
Inspired engineering
一段时间以来，迫切需要一种对深海生物研究的微妙方法。替代方法包括使用拖网网，不加选择地捡起大量的海洋生物，可能会对海底及其居民造成潜在损害。获得鱿鱼和水母等柔软的人体生物的困难使“遗忘的动物群”赢得了生物。但是Wyss Mehtod希望改变这一点。
Next, the team plans to add cameras and sensors to the RAD so they can quickly capture data about their living samples.
Robert Wood, who led the development of the RAD at his Wyss lab, concludes, “Our group’s collaboration with the marine biology community has opened the door for the fields of soft robotics and origami-inspired engineering to apply those technologies to solve problems in an entirely different discipline, and we are excited to see the ways in which this synergy creates novel solutions.”
一篇详细介绍此RAD实验的论文，标题为“旋转式折叠多面体，用于对脆弱海洋生物的中间研究“, is published online inScience Robotics。It is co-authored by Zhi Ern Teoh, Brennan T. Phillips, Kaitlyn P. Becker, Griffin Whittredge, James C. Weaver, Chuck Hoberman, David F. Gruber and Robert J. Wood.
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Featured image shows the RAD capturing a small octopus and setting it free. Clip via Wyss Institute
