Wasp Drill

Wasp Drill

The STAR-LAB led by Professor Yang Gao at University of Surrey in the UK has been pioneering the R&D of the bio-inspired Dual Reciprocating Drilling (DRD) technology (a.k.a the ‘Wasp Drill’).

The technology was inspired by wood wasps who use its ovipositors to drill into the wood and lay eggs. The “Wasp Drill” allows deep drilling with flexible deployment mechanism in low-gravity environments (such as the Moon and asteroids), as well as allows low-mass sampling suitable for small space device designs. The latest research of the technology is also extended to space to relevant terrestrial applications such as in the utility sector for deploying fibre cables. Demo videos can be seen from the YouTube playlist at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCE4DA54002C2898F.

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  • Organization
    University of Surrey
  • Profession
    Deep drilling on the Moon and asteroids

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