To aid the military
Research to focus on ground excavation
A team at GE Research was awarded a $2.5 million grant to develop an earthworm-like robot used for excavating the ground.
A team at GE Research has been awarded a $2.5 million grant to develop an earthworm-like robot used for excavating the ground, the company announced.
The 15-month grant was awarded through the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Underminer program, to develop machines that can quickly dig through the ground in support of military operations, including resupply and rescue missions, GE said.
The GE prototype was designed by project leader Deepak Trived, whose doctoral work at Penn State focused on designing a soft robot inspired by biological structures like octopus arms and elephant trunks.
“It turns out earthworms are probably the most prolific tunnel makers on the planet,” Trivedi said.
“We have designed a prototype that is several feet long, with hydraulic artificial muscles that mimics the agility of earthworms moving through soil and with the force of tree roots penetrating through soft rock.”
The robot designed by Trivedi and the GE Robotics Team has artificial muscles that can rapidly expand to enlarge the tunnel, and muscles that can extend the robot, having it penetrate farther into the ground.
The robot can also excavate through the ground without needing to transfer any soil to the surface, giving it a stealthy edge.
The project’s goal is to demonstrate a robot that can move at a speed of 10 cm/sec and dig a tunnel that is 500 meters in length and at least 10 cm in diameter.