"flexible rubber materials and pressurised air for passively adapting grasps "
Looks like the amateur at Shadow Robotics was right all along. Theirs used rubber balloons in stocking bags as pneumatic muscles. Limited maximum strength but very high strength/weight ratio, so they did a complete set of muscles, like a real human forearm (somewhere around 60 actual muscles in there).
IIRC the SoA in conventional manipulators is one that can pick up a cherry from a mound of cherries and put them on top of a cake.
Used 2 soft(ish) rubber belts and probably a fair bit of fine tuning on the materials selection for the belts.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
