WormBot: Understanding Earthworm Excavation Mechanisms for Flexible Robotic Design

• Grant number: 26/03487-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: May 01, 2026
• End date: April 30, 2027
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Mechanical Engineering - Mechanics of Solids
• Principal Investigator: Josué Labaki Silva
• Grantee: Murilo Hernandez de Oliveira
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Engenharia Mecânica (FEM). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 22/02753-5 - Optimization and applications in dynamic soil-structure interaction, AP.PNGP.PI

Abstract

The WormBot project is part of an international research initiative aimed at understanding the mechanical interaction between organisms and deformable soils, focusing on the peristaltic excavation mechanisms of earthworms and their application to bioinspired flexible robotics. Driven by industrial demands in geotechnical engineering and underground systems, the study proposes the development of a coupled computational model that integrates a viscoelastic cavity expansion model for soil response with a kinematic peristaltic pulse model for the burrowing organism. This integrated framework will enable systematic investigation of how soil mechanical properties and organism geometry and motion influence stresses, forces, and energy expenditure during excavation. Through validation against experimental data and parametric analyses, the project seeks to advance fundamental knowledge in burrowing biomechanics and soil mechanics while establishing robust physical foundations for the future design of flexible bioinspired excavation robots. (AU)