A Theoretical Investigation of the Critical Timescales Needed for Digging in Dry Soil Using a Biomimetic Burrowing Robot
RoboClam is a bio-inspired robot that digs into underwater soil efficiently by expanding and contracting its valves to fluidize the substrate around it, thus reducing drag. This technology has potential applications in fields such as anchoring, sensor placement, and cable installation. Though there...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
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American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
2017
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/109246 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4151-0889 |
| _version_ | 1811095894795223040 |
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| author | Isava, Monica Winter, Amos G. |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering Isava, Monica Winter, Amos G. |
| author_sort | Isava, Monica |
| collection | MIT |
| description | RoboClam is a bio-inspired robot that digs into underwater soil efficiently by expanding and contracting its valves to fluidize the substrate around it, thus reducing drag. This technology has potential applications in fields such as anchoring, sensor placement, and cable installation. Though there are similar potential applications in dry soil, the lack of water to advect the soil particles prevents fluidization from occurring. However, theoretically, if the RoboClam contracts quickly enough, it will achieve a zero-stress state that will allow it to dig into dry soil with very little drag, independent of depth. This paper presents a theoretical model of the two modes of soil collapse to determine how quickly a device would need to contract to achieve this zero-stress state. It was found that a contraction time of 0.02 seconds would suffice for most soils, which is an achievable timescale for a RoboClam-like device. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T16:32:04Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/109246 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T16:32:04Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1092462022-09-29T20:06:40Z A Theoretical Investigation of the Critical Timescales Needed for Digging in Dry Soil Using a Biomimetic Burrowing Robot Isava, Monica Winter, Amos G. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering Isava, Monica Winter, Amos G. RoboClam is a bio-inspired robot that digs into underwater soil efficiently by expanding and contracting its valves to fluidize the substrate around it, thus reducing drag. This technology has potential applications in fields such as anchoring, sensor placement, and cable installation. Though there are similar potential applications in dry soil, the lack of water to advect the soil particles prevents fluidization from occurring. However, theoretically, if the RoboClam contracts quickly enough, it will achieve a zero-stress state that will allow it to dig into dry soil with very little drag, independent of depth. This paper presents a theoretical model of the two modes of soil collapse to determine how quickly a device would need to contract to achieve this zero-stress state. It was found that a contraction time of 0.02 seconds would suffice for most soils, which is an achievable timescale for a RoboClam-like device. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering 2017-05-22T15:08:51Z 2017-05-22T15:08:51Z 2015-08 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/ConferencePaper 978-0-7918-5712-0 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/109246 Isava, Monica, and Amos G. Winter. “A Theoretical Investigation of the Critical Timescales Needed for Digging in Dry Soil Using a Biomimetic Burrowing Robot.” ASME 2015 International Design Engineering Technical Conferences & Computers and Information in Engineering Conference IDETC/CIE 2015, 2-5 August, 2015, Boston, Massachusetts, USA, ASME, 2015. © 2015 by ASME https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4151-0889 en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1115/DETC2015-47852 Proceedings of the ASME 2015 International Design Engineering Technical Conferences & Computers and Information in Engineering Conference IDETC/CIE 2015 Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. application/pdf American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) |
| spellingShingle | Isava, Monica Winter, Amos G. A Theoretical Investigation of the Critical Timescales Needed for Digging in Dry Soil Using a Biomimetic Burrowing Robot |
| title | A Theoretical Investigation of the Critical Timescales Needed for Digging in Dry Soil Using a Biomimetic Burrowing Robot |
| title_full | A Theoretical Investigation of the Critical Timescales Needed for Digging in Dry Soil Using a Biomimetic Burrowing Robot |
| title_fullStr | A Theoretical Investigation of the Critical Timescales Needed for Digging in Dry Soil Using a Biomimetic Burrowing Robot |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Theoretical Investigation of the Critical Timescales Needed for Digging in Dry Soil Using a Biomimetic Burrowing Robot |
| title_short | A Theoretical Investigation of the Critical Timescales Needed for Digging in Dry Soil Using a Biomimetic Burrowing Robot |
| title_sort | theoretical investigation of the critical timescales needed for digging in dry soil using a biomimetic burrowing robot |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/109246 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4151-0889 |
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