Sonic Drills
NASA's Sonic Drill Project
By applying ultrasonic energy to a hollow drill bit,
materials can be drilled with minimal physical pressure. The
attraction for NASA was the ability to deliver a low axial load
drill, using only 5 watts while on sample return missions to
Mars and, at a later date, Venus.
Links pertaining to the development and manufacturing of
NASA's JPL NDEAA Ultrasonic/Sonic Driller:
NASA's Jet Propulsion Sonic Driller Home Page
April 12, 2000 Press Release
Other Potential Applications
Other potential applications identified to-date include
surgical (drilling through bone without damaging adjacent tissue
and nerves), hand held tolls, and, on a larger scale, portable
drilling rigs with minimal support requirements. We are
confident that many more applications will be identified in the
coming months and years.
