Development of a Novel Bio-Inspired Planetary Subsurface Explorer: Initial Experimental Study by Prototype Excavator With Propulsion and Excavation Units

Omori, Hayato; Murakami, Taro; Nagai, Hiroaki; Nakamura, Taro; Kubota, Takashi

doi:10.1109/tmech.2012.2222429

Cited by 39 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Earthworm Similarly as inchworm-type robots, these subsurface systems rely on a bio-inspired propulsion system, guided by a second unit in charge of excavation (drilling unit) [81]. The earthworm locomotion principle provides a good stability to the excavator, maintaining the robot body position and orientation while avoiding lateral deviations [82].…”

Section: Subsurface Locomotionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Towards bio-inspired robots for underground and surface exploration in planetary environments: An overview and novel developments inspired in sand-swimmers

Lopez-Arreguin

Montenegro

2020

Heliyon

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Dessert organisms like sandfish lizards (SLs) bend and generate thrust in granular mediums to scape heat and hunt for prey [1]. Further, SLs seems to have striking capabilities to swim in undulatory form keeping the same wavelength even in terrains with different volumetric densities, hence behaving as rigid bodies. This paper tries to recommend new research directions for planetary robotics, adapting principles of sand swimmers for improving robustness of surface exploration robots. First, we summarize previous efforts on bio-inspired hardware developed for granular terrains and accessing complex geological features. Later, a rigid wheel design has been proposed to imitate SLs locomotion capabilities. In order to derive the force models to predict performance of such bio-inspired mobility system, different approaches as RFT (Resistive Force Theory) and analytical terramechanics are introduced. Even in typical wheeled robots the slip and sinkage increase with time, the new design intends to imitate traversability capabilities of SLs, that seem to keep the same slip while displacing at subsurface levels.

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Section: Subsurface Locomotionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Peristatic crawling reduces the friction when compared to other worm-based systems. Nevertheless, the few prototypes available still cannot demonstrate excavation at large depths beyond 1 m [81], becoming an important focus for future research.…”

Section: Subsurface Locomotionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards bio-inspired robots for underground and surface exploration in planetary environments: An overview and novel developments inspired in sand-swimmers

Lopez-Arreguin

Montenegro

2020

Heliyon

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“…Worm-based crawling motion shows high adaptivity to complicated terrains ( 1 – 3 ) because of the soft deformable body. By engineering effective crawling, robotic crawlers on various scales have attracted extensive efforts for applications, including planetary subsurface exploration ( 4 , 5 ), in-pipe inspection ( 6 , 7 ), and gastrointestinal endoscopy ( 8 , 9 ), where the operating space is limited or confined.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soft robotic origami crawler

et al. 2022

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Biomimetic soft robotic crawlers have attracted extensive attention in various engineering fields, owing to their adaptivity to different terrains. Earthworm-like crawlers realize locomotion through in-plane contraction, while inchworm-like crawlers exhibit out-of-plane bending-based motions. Although in-plane contraction crawlers demonstrate effective motion in confined spaces, miniaturization is challenging because of limited actuation methods and complex structures. Here, we report a magnetically actuated small-scale origami crawler with in-plane contraction. The contraction mechanism is achieved through a four-unit Kresling origami assembly consisting of two Kresling dipoles with two-level symmetry. Magnetic actuation is used to provide appropriate torque distribution, enabling a small-scale and untethered robot with both crawling and steering capabilities. The crawler can overcome large resistances from severely confined spaces by its anisotropic and magnetically tunable structural stiffness. The multifunctionality of the crawler is explored by using the internal cavity of the crawler for drug storage and release. The magnetic origami crawler can potentially serve as a minimally invasive device for biomedical applications.

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“…Although these penetrators have advantages of light weight and small dimensions, it is difficult for them to penetrate hard regolith or rocks and thus they are just suitable for subsurface exploration of the shallow depth in relatively loose regolith. Drawing inspiration from nature, several bioinspired excavating robots including IDDS [12], Auto-Gopher [13], and Earthworm-type robot [14] were proposed. The excavating robot can break and remove the regolith for making space and advancement, and it is generally equipped with anchor mechanism used to supply the enough down force when applied on the borehole wall.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Drilling Load Model of an Inchworm Boring Robot for Lunar Subsurface Exploration

Zhang

Tang

Chen

et al. 2017

International Journal of Aerospace Engineering

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In the past decade, the wireline robot has received increasing attention due to the advantages of light weight, low cost, and flexibility compared to the traditional drilling instruments in space missions. For the lunar subsurface in situ exploration mission, we proposed a type of wireline robot named IBR (Inchworm Boring Robot) drawing inspiration from the inchworm. Two auger tools are utilized to remove chips for IBR, which directly interacted with the lunar regolith in the drilling process. Therefore, for obtaining the tools drilling characteristics, the chips removal principle of IBR is analyzed and its drilling load model is further established based on the soil mechanical theory in this paper. And then the proposed theoretical drilling load model is experimentally validated. In addition, according to the theoretical drilling load model, this paper discusses the effect of the drilling parameters on the tools drilling moments and power consumption. These results imply a possible energy-efficient control strategy for IBR.

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Development of a Novel Bio-Inspired Planetary Subsurface Explorer: Initial Experimental Study by Prototype Excavator With Propulsion and Excavation Units

Cited by 39 publications

References 18 publications

Towards bio-inspired robots for underground and surface exploration in planetary environments: An overview and novel developments inspired in sand-swimmers

Towards bio-inspired robots for underground and surface exploration in planetary environments: An overview and novel developments inspired in sand-swimmers

Soft robotic origami crawler

Drilling Load Model of an Inchworm Boring Robot for Lunar Subsurface Exploration

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