Yonder Robotics · 2026
Sample Drill
An auger sample drill and the two-stage elevator that deploys it. The problem isn't drilling; it's returning a clean subsurface sample without the surface debris the auger necessarily cuts through on the way down.
The self-plugging cache
Spoil separates by depth using geometry alone: no valves, no actuators, no sensing.
An ejection hole sits 10 cm above ground level. Cutting the top layer, that hole is above the soil line and shallow material throws clear. At a full 10 cm plunge the hole is buried and self-plugs against the surrounding soil. Everything traveling up the auger from that point is subsurface, and all of it is retained.
Two-stage elevator
A CM AKE60 drives a primary chain stage into a low-creep string carriage stage.
It has to do two contradictory things well: push the drill into the ground under load, and retract fully above the rover for transport.
Gallery
Drill build
Auger, cache tube, and the NEO 550 gearbox.
Elevator
Two stages: chain first, low-creep cable second.
On the rover
Behind the deck, clear of the arm's workspace.
Yonder Robotics