• Conventional shovels exhibit poor adaptability and are prone to frequent fractures. • Using the Discrete element model to replicate the physical properties of compacted soil in the Xinjiang region. • Through the animal behaviors, shovel has been optimized with a bio-inspired design. • Bionic shovels demonstrate remarkable advantages in operational performance. • Determination of optimal placement parameters for bionic shovels.
Zhou et al. (Sat,) studied this question.