MIT researchers developed a faster and simpler way to model the forces needed to push, wiggle, and drill an object through soft, granular material in real-time. The methods could help engineers drive a rover over Martian soil, anchor a ship in rough seas, and walk a robot through sand and mud.
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IMAGE: Engineers and physicists from MIT and Georgia Tech are enabling near real-time modeling of wheels, treads, and desert animals traveling at high speeds across sandy terrains. Dynamic Resistive Force Theory, . view more
Credit: Photo by Jack Delulio on Unsplash
Granular materials, such as sand and gravel, are an interesting class of materials. They can display solid, liquid, and gas-like properties, depending on the scenario. But things can get complicated in cases of high-speed vehicle locomotion, which cause these materials to enter a triple-phase nature, acting like all three fundamental phases of matter at the same time.
As reported in the April 23, 2021 issue of the journal