Critical Timescales for Burrowing in Undersea Substrates via Localized Fluidization, Demonstrated by RoboClam: A Robot Inspired by Atlantic Razor Clams
The Atlantic razor clam (Ensis directus) burrows into underwater soil by using motions of its shell to locally fluidize the surrounding substrate. The energy associated with movement through fluidized soil — characterized by a depth-independent density and viscosity — scales linearly with depth. In...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
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American Society of Mechanical Engineers
2017
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/109256 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4151-0889 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9755-3856 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9233-2245 |
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| author | Winter, Amos G. Deits, Robin Lloyd Henderson Dorsch, Daniel S. |
| author2 | MIT-SUTD Collaboration Office |
| author_facet | MIT-SUTD Collaboration Office Winter, Amos G. Deits, Robin Lloyd Henderson Dorsch, Daniel S. |
| author_sort | Winter, Amos G. |
| collection | MIT |
| description | The Atlantic razor clam (Ensis directus) burrows into underwater soil by using motions of its shell to locally fluidize the surrounding substrate. The energy associated with movement through fluidized soil — characterized by a depth-independent density and viscosity — scales linearly with depth. In contrast, moving through static soil requires energy that scales with depth squared. For E. directus, this translates to a 10X reduction in the energy required to reach observed burrow depths. For engineers, localized fluidization offers a mechanically simple and purely kinematic method to dramatically reduce burrowing energy. This concept is demonstrated with RoboClam, an E. directus-inspired robot. Using a genetic algorithm to generate digging kinematics, RoboClam has achieved localized fluidization and burrowing performance comparable to that of the animal, with a linear energy-depth relationship. In this paper, we present the critical timescales and associated kinematics necessary for achieving localized fluidization, which are calculated from soil parameters and validated via RoboClam and E. directus testing. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T17:11:01Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/109256 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T17:11:01Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | American Society of Mechanical Engineers |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1092562022-10-03T11:00:29Z Critical Timescales for Burrowing in Undersea Substrates via Localized Fluidization, Demonstrated by RoboClam: A Robot Inspired by Atlantic Razor Clams Winter, Amos G. Deits, Robin Lloyd Henderson Dorsch, Daniel S. MIT-SUTD Collaboration Office Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics Winter, Amos G. Deits, Robin Lloyd Henderson Dorsch, Daniel S. The Atlantic razor clam (Ensis directus) burrows into underwater soil by using motions of its shell to locally fluidize the surrounding substrate. The energy associated with movement through fluidized soil — characterized by a depth-independent density and viscosity — scales linearly with depth. In contrast, moving through static soil requires energy that scales with depth squared. For E. directus, this translates to a 10X reduction in the energy required to reach observed burrow depths. For engineers, localized fluidization offers a mechanically simple and purely kinematic method to dramatically reduce burrowing energy. This concept is demonstrated with RoboClam, an E. directus-inspired robot. Using a genetic algorithm to generate digging kinematics, RoboClam has achieved localized fluidization and burrowing performance comparable to that of the animal, with a linear energy-depth relationship. In this paper, we present the critical timescales and associated kinematics necessary for achieving localized fluidization, which are calculated from soil parameters and validated via RoboClam and E. directus testing. Battelle Memorial Institute Bluefin Robotics Chevron Corporation 2017-05-22T16:29:46Z 2017-05-22T16:29:46Z 2013-08 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/ConferencePaper 978-0-7918-5593-5 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/109256 Winter, Amos G., Robin L. H. Deits, and Daniel S. Dorsch. “Critical Timescales for Burrowing in Undersea Substrates via Localized Fluidization, Demonstrated by RoboClam: A Robot Inspired by Atlantic Razor Clams.” Volume 6A: 37th Mechanisms and Robotics Conference (August 4, 2013). https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4151-0889 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9755-3856 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9233-2245 en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1115/DETC2013-12798 Volume 6A: 37th Mechanisms and Robotics Conference 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 American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) |
| spellingShingle | Winter, Amos G. Deits, Robin Lloyd Henderson Dorsch, Daniel S. Critical Timescales for Burrowing in Undersea Substrates via Localized Fluidization, Demonstrated by RoboClam: A Robot Inspired by Atlantic Razor Clams |
| title | Critical Timescales for Burrowing in Undersea Substrates via Localized Fluidization, Demonstrated by RoboClam: A Robot Inspired by Atlantic Razor Clams |
| title_full | Critical Timescales for Burrowing in Undersea Substrates via Localized Fluidization, Demonstrated by RoboClam: A Robot Inspired by Atlantic Razor Clams |
| title_fullStr | Critical Timescales for Burrowing in Undersea Substrates via Localized Fluidization, Demonstrated by RoboClam: A Robot Inspired by Atlantic Razor Clams |
| title_full_unstemmed | Critical Timescales for Burrowing in Undersea Substrates via Localized Fluidization, Demonstrated by RoboClam: A Robot Inspired by Atlantic Razor Clams |
| title_short | Critical Timescales for Burrowing in Undersea Substrates via Localized Fluidization, Demonstrated by RoboClam: A Robot Inspired by Atlantic Razor Clams |
| title_sort | critical timescales for burrowing in undersea substrates via localized fluidization demonstrated by roboclam a robot inspired by atlantic razor clams |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/109256 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4151-0889 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9755-3856 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9233-2245 |
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