Grand challenges for burrowing soft robots.

ABSTRACT: Robotic burrowing holds promise for applications in agriculture, resource extraction, and infrastructure development, but current approaches are ineffective, inefficient, or cause significant environmental disruption. In contrast, natural burrowers penetrate substrates with minimal disturbance, providing biomechanical principles that could inspire more efficient and sustainable mechanisms. A notable feature of many natural burrowers is their reliance on soft body compositions, raising the question of whether softness contributes to their burrowing success. This review explores the role of soft materials in biological burrowing and their implications for robotic design. We examine the mechanisms that soft-bodied organisms and soft robots employ for submerging and subterranean locomotion, fo

SUBMITTER: Le CL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11864953 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature