Robots for karstic exploration
Karst generally comprises a network of underground natural conduits, resulting from the dissolution of soluble rocks, limestone, dolomite and gypsum, which may drain groundwater on a large scale. Karst aquifers, which supply drinking water to millions of people worldwide, can be seen as underground conduits corresponding to preferential groundwater flow paths. Assessing the geometry of flow paths network in karst, which constrain the dynamics of groundwater and transport processes, is an ambitious scientific objective that requires field information, which may be difficult to acquire. Cave diver is heroic, but faces obvious physiological limitations. The use of a robotic solution may induce a significant evolution, in its capacity to go further and deeper in the karst maze. This requires an interdisciplinary scientific journey where hydrogeologists, mathematicians, electronic and control scientists share the same objective. This speech proposes to present the global strategy of this scientific initiative and the latest results we have obtained.