Feasibility study of remote autonomous operation of grain-swimming robot

Bulk solids and powders (a.k.a. granular materials) are ubiquitous in industry, with an estimated 16 Billion tons of bulk materials handled annually - representing the single largest category of materials industry in the world.

Granular materials range from cereal grains, mineral bulks, chemical powders, to sand dunes and the Martian regolith substrate.

The project, a collaboration between Crover and the Scotland 5G Centre, aims to further the development of the CROVER robot, the world's first 'granular drone' (in the sense of a device able to move through bulk solids and powders), by using AI to automate the CROVER robot and system and thus providing autonomous condition monitoring and management of granular bulks.

The project is made possible by the Crover proprietary technology for locomotion in bulk solids (e.g. sand, grains, powders) and it is based around the CROVER: the world's first 'granular drone', in the sense of a device able to move through bulk solids and powders.