US technology giant GE says they have been awarded a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) contract to "to demonstrate the feasibility of a robot that can rapidly and efficiently bore tactical tunnels in support of critical military operations".

The 15 month-long, $2.5 million project is part of famous 'DARPA Underminer Program'.

GE's press release (below I provide the link to it) says "GE Research team’s bio-inspired soft robot design mimics the rhythmic movements of earthworms moving through soil and the force of tree roots growing into the ground to create underground tunnel networks. New capabilities could enable a multitude of robotic applications, ranging from non-destructive inspection and repair of industrial infrastructure pipe inspection to supporting wireless infrastructure construction."

GE says, the inspiration for their approach "has its roots in the graduate and doctoral research of project leader Deepak Trivedi in the mechanical engineering program at Penn State University.  Trivedi’s doctoral work, one of the earliest in soft robotics, was to create and demonstrate a robot inspired by biological examples of soft structures such as octopus arms and elephant trunks. The idea was creating a robot that had the dexterity to make sharp turns, squeeze through confined or small spaces and adaptability to pick up and move objects of vastly different sizes and shapes. Trivedi, a mechanical engineer, says the earthworm-like design integrates some of these characteristics with a great ability to dig and move quickly underground.“It turns out earthworms are probably the most prolific tunnel makers on the planet,” Trivedi said. Tree roots can penetrate through highly compacted soils and soft rock by generating high pressures through tissue growth. “We have designed a prototype that is several feet long, with hydraulic artificial muscles that mimics the agility of earthworms moving through soil and with the force of tree roots penetrating through soft rock.”Trivedi explains that earthworms rely on muscular structure filled with fluid, called the “hydrostatic skeleton.” When they move, some sections of their structure radially expand to enlarge the tunnel while anchoring the worm, while others become longer to create movement and penetrate further into the soil.What Trivedi and the GE Robotics Team have designed is a robot using powerful artificial muscles that moves in the same fashion. The robot is capable of adaptively changing its gait depending on soil conditions, making it versatile. Another advantage of this approach is that the robot can create tunnels without the need for bringing any material to the surface, giving it advantages of efficiency and stealth.   But Trivedi says that designing a powerful robot that moves with force is only one part of the challenge. The other is enabling it to autonomously and knowingly navigate its way around obstacles to reach the desired target location without the benefit of GPS"

GE Robotics team has created a prototype of the artificial earthworm as seen in the video. Now with the help of DARPA funding, they will try to push the envelope a little further I guess. Hopefully this will also bring benefits for civilian tunneling applications.

https://www.genewsroom.com/press-releases/ge-research-demonstrate-giant-earthworm-robot-superfast-ultra-efficient-tunnel