Not-a-Boring competition

Faster than a snail

In the meantime, The Boring Company has already dug several tunnels – however, Musk is not satisfied with today's tunneling technology, which is too slow and expensive for his taste. His vision is to build a tunnel boring machine that is “faster than a snail.” While this may not sound too ambitious, snails are actually more than ten times faster at digging than today's tunnel boring machines. To change this, The Boring Company has launched an international competition to develop a new type of faster tunnel boring machine. The objective of this “Not-a-Boring Competition” is to drill a 30-meter-long tunnel with a diameter of half a meter as quickly and precisely as possible. Four hundred teams took up the challenge, twelve of which are now competing in the final.

Potential sustainability gains

“Without support from industry, we wouldn’t have been able to handle a project like this,” notes Johannes Drexler. Eaton serves as an important partner in this regard: “We quickly realized that a new technology that would make it faster and easier to drill tunnels holds enormous potential when it comes to meeting global sustainability goals,” says Stefan Rohrmoser, Managing Director of Sales at Eaton Germany, when asked why the company got involved in the project. Especially since he knows firsthand how complex tunnel construction is today: “My parents live next to the construction site of the Koralm Tunnel in Munich,” explains Rohrmoser, who studied at the Technical University of Munich himself. “The project was started in 2008 – and won't be completed until 2026. If it were possible to do this in a quicker and more sustainable way, that would be a really positive and important change.” 

An automation system based on Eaton products and expertise

Eaton provided the TUM Boring Team with all the necessary components for the automation system of its machine. Drexler: “Nothing works without automation technology today – not even our tunnel boring machine.” For example, sensors provide data on the amount of material removed and the rotational speed of the drill head. “We also receive information about the force applied by the feed system. Based on these data, we can calculate and set the right feed rate and pressure according to the geological conditions,” Drexler adds. In addition, automation technology also ensures safe operation – an important consideration, given that the TUM Boring tunnel boring machine is a rather large and heavy piece of equipment. “All systems are continuously monitored,” explains Johannes Drexler. “In the event of a critical situation or if people enter the hazardous area, the system will shut itself off.” 

From the digital main switch to the PLC

In implementing its automation system, the students from the Technical University of Munich were able to draw on Eaton's complete product range, from main switches through individual fuses and control-circuit fuses to motor-protective circuit breakers, contactors, programmable logic controllers and panel PCs. The heart of the automation system is the XC300 modular controller, which handles all automation, control and monitoring functions. All functions are visualized and operated via an XP500 industrial PC with multi-touch panel. Another important element is the NZM digital circuit breaker. Michael Mäck, who provides technical support to the TUM team on behalf of Eaton, explains why: “The integrated energy measurement function of the circuit breaker ensures that the tunnel boring machine does not exceed the power consumption limit specified by The Boring Company. Should the limit nevertheless be exceeded, the system will automatically reduce the propulsive power accordingly.”

Thanks to the PowerXL DB1 Cold Plate variable frequency drive from Eaton, the tunnel boring machine also offers a number of special advantages: Since the heat loss is dissipated directly to the housing via a metal plate, no heat sinks or fans are required. “As this keeps the footprint to a minimum, we were able to place the variable frequency drive outside the control cabinet. This allowed us to reduce the length of the motor cable,” says Johannes Drexler and adds, “The fact that we were able to source almost all our automation components from Eaton means that we only have very few interfaces in the system. This also simplifies the design of the control cabinet, which we've kept as simple as possible so that it can be quickly installed.”

However, Eaton not only provided the necessary automation components, but also supported the TUM Boring team in selecting the appropriate products, instructed the students in their operation and helped with the programming and visualization of the machine. “The fact that we received such detailed advice and training from an industrial partner is quite extraordinary. All in all, we must have racked up several hundreds of consulting hours,” says Drexler. 

Entry into the finals

But it was well worth the effort, given that the technical concept submitted by the TUM Boring team convinced The Boring Company. “We're one of only twelve teams that made it to the finals,” says Drexler. In the summer of 2021, the TUM Boring Team will travel to the U.S. to prove that its machine can deliver what it promises. Johannes Drexler is sure that the competition “will leave its mark on tunneling,” regardless of its outcome. “New ideas and innovative approaches will emerge simply because so many teams with different backgrounds are working on this issue” – bringing us one step closer to realizing Elon Musk's vision of the mobility of the future.