Engineers have commonly used enormous, tube-like machines outfitted with a terrifying variety of cutting wheels for decades to dig underground tunnels.
But now, a British firm called hyperTunnel is imagining a future when far smaller, 3-meter-long robots that resemble half-cylinders travel through pre-drilled pipes and build underground tunnels!
In the future, according to the British startup hyperTunnel, significantly smaller, roughly 3-meter-long robots with half-cylinder shapes will go via predrilled pipes. These pipes, which would have a diameter of around 250 millimeters (10 inches), would trace the outline of the proposed tunnel's walls. Once inside, the bots would drill small holes into the surrounding dirt using a robotic arm equipped with a milling head, which would later be filled with concrete or another sturdy substance. In this manner, the framework of a new tunnel would be put together piece by piece.
Thousands Of Robots
The walls of the proposed tunnel would be outlined by these pipes, which would have a diameter of about 250 millimeters (10 inches), according to a report by WIRED.
A robotic arm with a milling head on top would be used by the bots once they are inside the tunnel to pierce the surrounding ground and create small openings that would later be filled with concrete or another sturdy material.
A 3D animation of the robots working on a fictitious gigantic underground structure was depicted in a company-released video. With a TBM, the hole is dug first, and supports or walls are added to keep the surrounding dirt from filling the space.
According to Patrick Lane-Nott, head of engineering at hyperTunnel, there will be thousands of robots similar to swarms of an ant colony or termite colony.
He claims that the approach has the benefit of utilizing less building material overall. The exterior thickness of the construction could vary to suit the real geology and pressures around the tunnel at any given time rather than using uniform tunnel wall sections for the whole length of the project.
Read also: Scientists Invent a Tiny Robot With 'Human-Like Hands' That Can Lift 1000 Times Its Own Weight!
Innovating The Tunnel Industry
Tunneling specialists who were interviewed by WIRED said that it could take years to construct a TBM before using it to dig a tunnel. These experts said that there is a need for innovative solutions to cut costs and increase productivity for these types of projects.
Elon Musk's Boring Company, hyperTunnel, and organizations working on brand-new high-temperature techniques for blasting through the hardest rocks on Earth are just a few of the new businesses promising to innovate the underground excavation industry, as noted by WIRED.
"There's a lot going on, and I think that's good, because the tunneling industry has to improve," Project Manager of Amberg Engineering Jasmin Amberg remarked in a statement with WIRED.
Related Article: Roboticists Developed an AI Program That May Have Discovered an 'Alternative Physics'
This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Joaquin Victor Tacla
