Effective Ground Sampling Device Inspired by Sea Urchin Mouths

Innovation: Academia

UC San Diego

2016

Image: Sonia Kowsar / Unsplash / CC BY SA - Creative Commons Attribution + ShareAlike

Move in/on Solids

To obtain needed resources or escape predators, some living systems must move on solid substances, some must move within them, and others must do both. Solids vary in their form; they can be soft or porous like leaves, sand, skin, and snow, or hard like rock, ice, or tree bark. Movement can involve a whole living system, such as an ostrich running across the ground or an earthworm burrowing through the soil. It can also involve just part of a living system, such as a mosquito poking its mouthparts into skin. Solids vary in smoothness, stickiness, moisture content, density, etc, each of which presents different challenges. As a result, living systems have adaptations to meet one, and sometimes multiple, challenges. For example, some insects must be able to hold onto both rough and slippery leaf surfaces due to the diversity in their environment.

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Capture, Absorb, or Filter Solids

Some living systems must secure solid particles such as sediment, usually to keep the particles from hindering their health or activity. The most common way in which they do this is through filtering. To be effective, a filtering system must be appropriate to the sizes of solid particles to be captured and must capture only what is needed. It must also be effective in the appropriate media–air, water, or sometimes solids like soil. An example is mangroves, which are trees that grow along ocean coasts. Their root system slows down and settles sediment out of the water, building up soil to support the mangrove ecosystem.

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Sampling device from UC San Diego is a claw-like device that can collect soil samples with minimal loss during extraction.

Benefits

Durable
Precise

Applications

Geotechnical engineering
Soil sampling
Outerspace exploration

UN Sustainable Development Goals Addressed

Goal 9: Industry Innovation & Infrastructure

The Challenge

For several occupations, soil sampling is a necessary task. Geotechnical engineers, environmental teams, and even space rovers on other planets may sample soil to gather data about the nature of a particular area. However, common sampling methods frequently disturb surrounding habitats and are inefficient, dropping significant portions of soil during the grab.

Innovation Details

The sampling apparatus is a 3D-printed, claw-like device. It has five small prongs with flattened ends arranged in a circular pattern. The claw is deployed in an open position, and once it reaches the soil, it closes to collect the sample. The device can be attached to a small rover to sample soil in a variety of extreme environments, including zero-gravity conditions.

Biomimicry Story

Sea urchins eat using a structure called Aristotle’s lantern, made up of five sharp plates that close together to form a beak. Sea urchins have a seemingly insatiable appetite for algae and kelp and use their sharp teeth to slowly munch away kelp pieces and scrape algae off of rocks.

References

Journal article

A Protocol for Bioinspired Design: A Ground Sampler Based on Sea Urchin Jaws

Jove Journal

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