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Updated: Nov 2, 2025

Manufacturing, Control, and Performance Evaluation of a Gecko-Inspired Soft Robot

Manufacturing, Control, and Performance Evaluation of a Gecko-Inspired Soft Robot

Published on: June 10, 2020

Controlling subterranean forces enables a fast, steerable, burrowing soft robot.

Nicholas D Naclerio¹, Andras Karsai², Mason Murray-Cooper²

¹Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA. nnaclerio@ucsb.edu.

Science Robotics

|June 17, 2021

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Researchers developed a novel soft robot for subterranean navigation. This root-like robot burrows through sand over 10x faster than previous methods by controlling lift and drag forces.

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Published on: February 28, 2020

Area of Science:

Robotics
Geotechnical Engineering
Soft Robotics

Background:

Robotic navigation is well-established on land, air, and water.
Subterranean (underground) robotic locomotion remains largely unexplored due to high interaction forces and limited physics understanding.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the physics of granular intrusion for subterranean robotic movement.
To design and test a bio-inspired soft robot for efficient burrowing.

Main Methods:

Formulated and tested three hypotheses based on biological observation and granular intrusion physics.
Designed a steerable, root-like soft robot incorporating findings on drag and lift.
Evaluated robot performance in real sand, measuring burrowing speed, pullout force modulation, and directional control.

Main Results:

Tip extension significantly reduces total drag.
Granular aeration via tip-based airflow decreases drag nonlinearly with depth and flow angle.
Tip-based airflow angle nonmonotonically affects lift in granular media.
The developed robot achieved burrowing speeds over an order of magnitude faster than prior methods.
The robot demonstrated precise control over pullout force and directional navigation.

Conclusions:

The study advances the fundamental understanding of subterranean robotic locomotion.
The developed soft robot showcases unprecedented speed and maneuverability in granular environments.
This research paves the way for future subterranean robotic applications.