%ABaez, Victor%AShah, Ami%AAkinwande, Samuel%AJafari, Navid%ABecker, Aaron%Anull Ed.%D2020%I %K %MOSTI ID: 10219786 %PMedium: X %TAssessment of Soil Strength using a Robotically Deployed and Retrieved Penetrometer %XThis paper presents a method for performing free-fall penetrometer tests for soft soils using an instrumented dart deployed by a quadcopter. Tests were performed with three soil types and used to examine the effect of drop height on the penetration depth and the deceleration profile. Further tests analyzed the force required to remove a dart from the soil and the effect of pulling at different speeds and angles. The pull force of a consumer drone was measured, and tests were performed where a drone delivered and removed darts in soil representative of a wetland environment. Country unknown/Code not availablehttps://doi.org/10.1109/IROS45743.2020.9341424OSTI-MSA