Granular Robot

Basic components of motion in sand:

The basic components of motion in sand are very simple and are comprised of really two steps:

1. With an anchor in place, move the organism forward
2. With the organism in place, move the anchor

You then repeat this process. See diagram below.

The basic design of the robot is an arrowhead on the front and back, providing the anchors. The middle can change length, becoming short and long.

In order to optimize the system, we need to understand how various shapes of the anchors behave

1. The length / angle on the head piece
2. The size of the back
3. The % of the piece is positive space (material, so for instance, how 2D or 3D do we need (Max 3D being a cone and max 2D being an arrow head)

How the head and tail of the bot can be varied in dimension. Either elongated as above or made wider as below.

Below is a diagram of a device used to test the impact of these shapes on the robot’s ability to move through sand. The device can move the test shape into the sand and measure the force needed to move it through the sand. It can also reverse its direction once in the sand, measuring the force required to move in the opposite direction.

Arrowheads are natural directional “diodes” where motion in one direction requires far less force than in the other. This device measures the force required to provide a good measure of what shape will work best in sand.