Case Western Reserve University

Case Western Reserve University is developing a worm-inspired construction tool that could cheaply and quickly install underground distribution powerlines in busy urban and suburban environments. The proposed robotic tool consists of a sleeve of expanding and contracting materials that digs underground like an earthworm while laying conduit as it goes. The goal for the peristaltic conduit is to be able to avoid existing infrastructure obstacles by turning more nimbly (with potential turning radius of about 5 feet compared with conventional methods with turning radiuses larger than 1,000 feet). If successful tunneling would be possible in environments which are currently too risky for trenchless methods.