Stay updated with breaking news from Ken Kamrin. Get real-time updates on events, politics, business, and more. Visit us for reliable news and exclusive interviews.
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.
E-Mail 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, acti...