Artificial Venus flytrap grabs things over 100 times its weight

Snap! – and the robot's got it. An artificial Venus flytrap can seize items hundreds of times heavier than itself when they come within reach. Using a combination of smart materials and optical fibres, the artificial flytrap can sense when something should be grabbed. The artificial flytrap is only a couple of millimetres wide and less than a centimetre tall. The leaves are made of a light-responsive material containing small molecular switches that change shape when hit by light.