In 1989, in France, Roland Gourvès [1] designed the first instrumented dynamic penetrometer with variable energy. He named it P.A.N.D.A (from the French, Pénétromètre Autonomme Numérique Dynamique Assisté par ordinateur). The main idea was to design a lightweight, instrumented, and cost-effective dynamic cone penetrometer, with sufficient penetration power to sound most shallow soils. The device's main innovation is its variable-energy drive system, measured at each hammer blow by different sensors, which enables it to adapt the drive force to the consistency of the soil encountered during a test. Three versions of the device already exist, and the original concept was recently applied to develop the first servo-assisted DPSH (ISO 22476-2) {2]. Widely used in France, Europe and many other countries, the principle and use of P.A.N.D. A®, its scope of application and interpretation of results remain relatively unknown to the rest of the geotechnical community. In this article, the authors offer a brief review of the principle of P.A.N.D.A® measurement, its uses, advantages and disadvantages calibration, and interpretation, as well as the different relationships with other in-situ test (CPT, SPT, PMT…) and some geotechnical parameters. A summary of the works that can be found and that are based on this technology is also presented. The overall aim is to provide the reader with a basic historical document for a better understanding of the operation and analysis of the results obtained with this device, enabling it to be integrated, as a complement, into in situ investigation campaigns.