Translating biological complexity into a new paradigm of robotic manipulation
Strong, agile, sensitive, and versatile: the elephant’s trunk becomes the inspiration for a new generation of robotic manipulators. Equipped with innovative sensors and actuators made of soft materials, these future robots could one day be deployed in manufacturing and food industries, as well as in elderly and disability care. The development of these technologies is the objective of PROBOSCIS, a project funded with €3.5 million.
From autonomous assembly lines to personal robotic assistants, from food sorting systems to search and rescue operations, the evolution of robotics demands a level of adaptability that not only meets but exceeds human capability. This shift depends on an entirely new generation of intelligence—an intelligence that grows out of bioinspired design and the principles of soft robotics. In this context, the elephant’s trunk stands as an extraordinary model. It is a muscular hydrostat of astonishing complexity: a biologically evolved organ capable of tremendous strength and delicate precision, with a degree of sensory feedback and motor control that rivals the human hand.
Nature-inspired manipulation
The trunk of the elephant, with its more than 100,000 muscle units and absence of bones, is capable of manipulating both massive objects and delicate materials. It senses the environment with fine tactile awareness, interacts with unpredictability, and engages with the physical world through a seamless integration of sensing and actuation. This natural marvel inspired PROBOSCIS—a European research project whose goal was to translate these biological principles into a completely new paradigm of robotic manipulation.
At the heart of PROBOSCIS lies the ambition to establish tactile-based universal manipulation as a viable alternative to conventional robotic handling. Instead of rigid joints and predefined movement strategies, PROBOSCIS envisions soft-bodied, sensor-rich robotic systems that adapt to the real world through contact, proprioception, and embedded intelligence. The ultimate vision was to build robots that not only resemble nature in form but also mimic its functional logic—robots that are inherently safe, adaptable, and capable of navigating uncertain environments.
The project began on November 1st, 2019, and officially concluded in April 2025, with a total duration of 54 months. It was funded under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, within the Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) framework. Specifically, PROBOSCIS was supported through the FET-Open initiative, which is dedicated to bold, early-stage research projects that challenge current thinking and open entirely new avenues in science and technology. The total funding provided by the EU was over €3,4 million.
The consortium
The consortium that carried out this ambitious initiative brought together a well-balanced team of institutions. The Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT) led the project under the coordination of Lucia Beccai and also contributed through the participation of Barbara Mazzolai, another expert in bioinspired systems. The Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna (SSSA), with principal investigator Egidio Falotico, was responsible for advances in robotic control and cognitive architectures. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI), with Shlomo Magdassi as principal investigator, brought deep expertise in materials chemistry and 3D printing. The University of Geneva (UNIGE), under the guidance of Michel Milinkovitch, provided fundamental biological insights, particularly into the mechanisms of morphological complexity. Finally, the UK-based company Photocentric, with Ryan Drinkwater as its lead scientist, contributed to the development of additive manufacturing methods and functional materials tailored for soft robotics.
Each partner played a vital role in shaping the transdisciplinary foundation of PROBOSCIS. Roboticists, material scientists, biologists, and engineers worked side by side to build new knowledge about the elephant trunk and to transfer it into a robotic context. This required not only theoretical exploration but also hands-on experimentation, virtual modeling, and fabrication of functioning prototypes. It meant investigating the nature of tissue deformation, studying mechanotransduction in biological skin, and designing control architectures that rely on distributed feedback instead of centralized command.
The scientific leadership of the project was entrusted to Dr. Lucia Beccai, a tenured senior researcher at IIT and head of the Soft BioRobotics Perception (SBRP) research line. Her background bridges biomedical engineering, microfabrication, and tactile sensing, and her work has consistently focused on creating intelligent, perceptive soft robotic solutions for interaction with humans and complex environments. Before joining IIT, Dr. Beccai served as Assistant Professor at the BioRobotics Institute of Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna. She has led or contributed to numerous European and international research projects, and her scientific output includes over one hundred peer-reviewed papers, as well as editorial responsibilities in journals such as Scientific Reports, Frontiers in Robotics and AI, and IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters. She also acts as reviewer for high-impact journals including Science Robotics and Nature Communications, and has evaluated proposals for both the European Commission and national funding agencies such as the U.S. National Science Foundation. Under Dr. Beccai’s guidance, PROBOSCIS delivered a series of results that mark a significant step forward in the convergence of biology and robotics.
Multimodal Sensor for distributed touch and strain detection in continuum arms
Among the most important outcomes were two key developments: the creation of a multimodal sensing unit for artificial skin and the construction of a high-resolution 3D anatomical model of the elephant trunk.
The first of these achievements involved the design and fabrication of tactile sensors that combine the detection of both contact and mechanical deformation. Researchers explored several strategies for multimodal sensing, initially considering inductive and optical transductions. However, the technological limitations in producing stretchable coils led to the decision to pursue only optical solutions. The first step was to develop two distinct components: an optical touch sensor based on the principle of Total Frustrated Internal Reflection, and a stretchable optical waveguide for strain detection. The touch sensor allowed the mapping of pressure points across a surface, including under bending or dynamic loads, while the strain sensor, enhanced by a custom reflective coating, demonstrated sensitivity to elongation with resolution in the range of 100 microns and a strain tolerance of up to 100%.
These two devices were subsequently integrated into a single multimodal unit, featuring a hexagonal structure that responded simultaneously to touch and tensile deformation across three axes. Despite some delays in electronic component availability, the prototype showed great promise and is expected to serve as the foundational element of an artificial skin system for continuum robotic arms inspired by the elephant trunk.
The anatomical reconstruction of the elephant trunk
The second major result was the anatomical reconstruction of the elephant trunk. Historically, this organ’s full complexity had never been captured in a high-resolution, complete 3D model. Previous studies were limited to partial histological samples, usually from the tip of the trunk. In PROBOSCIS, researchers conducted a comprehensive investigation into the internal structure of both African and Asian elephant trunks using advanced imaging techniques. These included serial macro-sectioning, high-resolution photography with Z-stacking, CT scanning, MRI, histology, and fluorescence microscopy. The analysis revealed the detailed spatial organization of muscle bundles—longitudinal, transverse, radial, and oblique—intertwined with nerves, vascular structures, and connective tissue, all wrapped in a thick, keratinized skin. The resulting digital model allows for virtual exploration of the trunk’s internal architecture and will serve not only in robotic design but also as an educational and outreach tool.
The understanding gained from this model is crucial for the development of continuum robots capable of whole-arm grasping. The seamless transition between the gripping surface and the manipulator body in elephants informed the design of a robotic manipulator with no hard separation between “hand” and “arm”. This represents a fundamental departure from traditional robotics and enables new levels of dexterity. Control strategies developed during the project emphasized bodily awareness, motion primitives, and internal environmental models, all grounded in tactile feedback rather than vision. These innovations are not only mechanical; they also lay the groundwork for embodied artificial intelligence in soft robots.
Applications for these technologies span a wide range of sectors. In the short term, robotic manipulators inspired by PROBOSCIS may find use in warehouses and production lines, where they can pick and sort objects of varying shape and material without damaging them. In the food industry, such robots could handle soft fruits, dough, or packages with unknown contents. In the longer term, the robots may serve as assistive tools for people with disabilities or limited mobility. They could help lift a person from a wheelchair, or remove rubble in post-disaster scenarios, even in environments where cameras and vision systems are ineffective. Their capability to gently manipulate deformable materials also opens doors for tasks like folding clothes or assembling soft components, which remain unsolved challenges in current robotics.
Beyond its technological success, PROBOSCIS made a strong impact on the scientific community. Over the course of the project, the consortium published more than fifty scientific papers across disciplines such as robotics, biomechanics, biology, materials engineering, and computational modeling. These publications reflect not only the productivity of the team but also the richness of the research questions explored. As the project closes, these outputs continue to disseminate knowledge that will influence future generations of roboticists, biologists, and engineers.
In sum, PROBOSCIS has laid the foundation for a new class of robots—machines that are soft, perceptive, and inspired by nature not only in form but in function. By studying one of the most versatile and sensitive biological manipulators in existence, and by translating its principles into artificial systems, the project has opened a path toward robotics that interacts with the world the way life does: adaptively, safely, and intelligently.
References
- Lo Preti, M., Dagenais, P., Kamare, B., Bernardeschi, I., Lantean, S., Milinkovitch, M., & Beccai, L. (2025). Biomechanical and morphological traits shape deformation and toughness in the Asian elephant trunk skin. Royal Society Open Science.
- Yang, U., Trunin, P., Kamare, B., & Beccai, L. (2025). Elephant inspired stretchable and compressible armour tactile skin. Advanced Science.
- Dagenais, P., Hensman, S., Haechler, V., & Milinkovitch, M. C. (2021). Elephants evolved strategies reducing the biomechanical complexity of their trunk. Current Biology, 31(16), 3614–3623.e3.
- Lo Preti, M., Totaro, M., Falotico, E., Crepaldi, M., & Beccai, L. (2022). Online pressure map reconstruction in a multitouch soft optical waveguide skin. IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, 27(5), 2177–2188.
