The team will develop 1- to 2-foot worm-like robots that emulate how a bore drill into the ground, combined with a peristaltic motion that mimics how worms move through soil
Scientists of Cornell University, New York are recently planning to develop worm-like, soil-swimming robots to sense and record soil properties, water, the soil microbiome and how roots grow.
A $2 million National Science Foundation (NSF) grant led by the principal investigator (PI) Taryn Bauerle, an associate professor in the Horticulture Section of the School of Integrative Plant Science (SIPS) in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, will focus on the plants and soil perspective.
Meanwhile, a $750,000 NSF National Robotics Initiative grant to PI Robert Shepherd, associate professor in the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering in the College of Engineering, will develop the soil-monitoring robots.
Furthermore, the project will focus on maize, with the ultimate goal of incorporating factors related to root growth to improve breeding efforts and soil management that directly affect food productivity and security.
To acquire those measurements, the team will develop 1- to 2-foot worm-like robots that emulate how a bore drill into the ground, combined with a peristaltic motion that mimics how worms move through soil.
The team will experiment with a number of sensors and strategies. A robot’s ability to push through soil can reveal such properties as soil density and compactness. Robots will also be fitted with small temperature and humidity sensors.
Another goal of the project will be to evaluate how plants might respond to the effects of climate change, such as water availability. Measurements of root growth, factored in with environmental data, can provide insights into how roots grow based on external conditions, such as droughts.
