Subsurface Access & Sampling
Portable Rapid Soil Classification System
Product Features
Honeybee Robotics has developed a preliminary design for a man-portable (<50 lbs), rapid (<30 minutes) soil characterization system for a Small Business Innovative Research Project through the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center. In Phase I, the feasibility of novel tools for determining soil strength and moisture content were breadboarded and demonstrated; several potential methods for rapid USCS soil classification were identified.
The determination of soil characteristics is an essential part of civil engineering practices in both construction and transportation. Of particular importance to military transportation activities are the measurement of soil strength, soil moisture content, and the determination of soil classification according to the USCS system. The development of rapid, portable field methods for determining these three soil characteristics would be an important advancement in mobile military applications, or any other enterprise with similar field requirements.
We are currently in the process of applying for a patent for the soil strength tool concept.