Soft Robot Eversion and Fluidization for Granular Burrowing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current robots face significant challenges in subterranean locomotion due to high resistance forces and complex interactions with granular materials like sand and soil, requiring large and expensive machinery for access, which is not suitable for small robots.
Innovation Solution
A soft robot design featuring a pressurized, thin-walled tube that everts to extend apically, combined with fluidization to reduce friction and resistance by fluidizing the surrounding medium, allowing for efficient burrowing and movement through granular materials.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If conventional drilling methods (auger drilling, hydraulic-rotary drilling, tunnel boring machines) are used to create holes in ground, then access can be provided, but the machinery required is complex, large and expensive
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces complex mechanical drilling systems with a biologically-inspired passive penetration system. The robot uses a soft, compliant body that passively penetrates granular media through its flexible structure and controlled undulation, eliminating the need for augers, rotary drills, or tunnel boring machines. This substitution of active mechanical drilling with passive biological-inspired penetration achieves simple, low-cost access while maintaining effectiveness in granular materials.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physical parameters of the robot body to enable penetration without complex machinery. By using a soft, compliant body with specific mechanical properties (flexibility, elasticity) and controlling its undulation frequency and amplitude, the robot achieves effective penetration through granular media. This parameter-based approach replaces the need for large, expensive drilling equipment with a simple, adaptable soft robot.
2Ease of operation
If water jetting is used to fluidize sand for pile installation, then penetration is enabled, but the method requires heavy equipment and is not suitable for small robots
Solution Approach 1:
The patent substitutes heavy mechanical water jetting equipment with a lightweight, soft robot that uses biological-inspired undulation and passive fluidization. The robot's flexible body naturally fluidizes granular media through its motion, eliminating the need for heavy water jetting machinery. This substitution enables penetration capability while dramatically reducing equipment weight and complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The robot performs fluidization of granular media through its own motion and body properties rather than requiring external heavy equipment. The soft robot's undulation and compliance automatically fluidize the sand or soil it passes through, enabling self-service penetration without external assistance from heavy water jetting systems.
3Speed
If robots move through air, water, or over ground, then locomotion is achieved, but movement through ground or granular material is difficult due to substantial resisting forces
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the robot's physical parameters (soft compliance, flexible structure, undulation frequency) to enable effective movement through granular media. These parameter changes allow the robot to exploit fluidization effects and reduce resisting forces, achieving locomotion speeds comparable to those in air or water despite the challenging environment. The soft body's mechanical properties are specifically tuned to interact favorably with granular materials.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs dynamic undulation of the soft robot body to navigate granular media effectively. By continuously adjusting its shape and motion parameters, the robot adapts to the changing resistance forces in the granular material, maintaining effective locomotion speed. This dynamic behavior contrasts with static or rigid approaches that would struggle against substantial resisting forces.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The robot can burrow through dry sand with significantly less force than traditional methods, creating a physical conduit for object installation or fluid delivery, and can reach depths of up to ten meters with reduced resistance, making it suitable for various applications including search and rescue and underground inspections.
Implementation Method 1
a main body configured as a tube inverted back inside itself to define a pressure channel, such that when the channel is pressurized, the main body everts and inverted material everts and passes out of a tip at a distal end of the main body
Implementation Method 2
a fluidization tube for passing air or other fluid through a core of the main body in the fluidization tube
Data Source
AI summary
A soft robot includes a main body configured as a tube inverted back inside itself to define a pressure channel, such that when the channel is pressurized, the main body everts, and inverted material everts and passes out of a tip at a distal end of the main body. A fluidization tube for passing air or other fluid through a core of the main body in the fluidization tube, wherein the fluidization tube engages the main body such that the fluidization tube is ejected as the distal end as the main body everts and joins part of the side of the main body as the main body everts and extends its distal tip.