Soil Searching by an Artificial Root

Abstract

We model an artificial root which grows in the soil for underground prospecting. Its evolution is described by a controlled system of two integro-partial differential equations: one for the growth of the body and the other for the elongation of the tip. At any given time, the angular velocity of the root is obtained by solving a minimization problem with state constraints. We prove the existence of solutions to the evolution problem, up to the first time where a breakdown configuration is reached. Some numerical simulations are performed, to test the effectiveness of our feedback control algorithm.