Development of ”TsuchiKurai”; a robot that functions by eating soil and building its body

-First report: Experimental verification of the prototype machine of soil collecting mechanism and stiffness changes due to acquired soil-

Abstract

We propose a robot that is initially lightweight and soft but can develop new functions by taking in environmental materials and using them as a structural material. As an example of such a robot, we develop“TsuchiKurai”; a robot that acquires new functions by increasing its stiffness and mass by taking in the surrounding soil and using it as its structural material. As the first step, we devised a soil collection mechanism using a robotic hand wrapped in a bag-like structure. In addition, we developed a prototype of the soil collection mechanism and the stiffness change by soil and conducted experimental verification.