TSSE supports Warwick University students to reach the finals of an international tunnelling contest
Organised by Elon Musk, the "Not-A-Boring Competition", (run by the entrepreneur’s Boring Company), is focussed on searching for technological advances to make innovative transport systems such as Hyperloop viable.
A group of 27 students and alumni from Warwick University, aptly named Warwick Boring Team, entered the competition to design the world's fastest tunnel boring machine.
Having been selected amongst the final 12 from 400 teams entered, they were invited to demonstrate the machines capability to bore a 30m long and 500mm wide tunnel as quickly and accurately as possible in the desert near Las Vegas!
After almost a year of creating, designing and building, the finals took place in September 2021. The Warwick Boring Team solution was placed in the top four, being one of only a handful of teams to pass all of the health and safety regulations. Warwick Boring claimed its machine would be 10 times cheaper and 80% faster than industry-standard tunnel boring machines, once scaled up.
Tanner Hatzmann, a key member of the Warwick Boring Team, said “It was a once in a lifetime opportunity for us to represent our university and the UK and we loved every minute of our time over in Las Vegas. The competition was a great success for us, and the hydraulic power unit supplied from Torishima was that of high quality and reliability. Their Fluid Power team went above and beyond to ensure we had the equipment and support we needed to achieve all of our goals. They were one of our greatest supporters and without them we would have been unable to showcase our technology overseas."
Torishima Fluid Power are very proud to have been involved in the successful venture of the Warwick Boring team.
Scope Of Work:
Produce a bespoke hydraulic power unit to successfully operate a drill which is designed for tunnelling through earth in challenging conditions.
- Design and manufacture, including taking into account extreme operating conditions; outdoor environment, Las Vegas desert heat, etc.
- Design and build a Control Panel to connect the HPU with the drill.
- Supply of hydraulic oil and portable filtration unit.
- 5 week end-to-end timescale.
Liaising with members of the Warwick Boring team, TSSE’s Fluid Power division in Leamington Spa successfully designed, manufactured and factory tested the hydraulic power unit within the requested time frame and budget.
TSSE carried out every stage of the design and manufacture process in minute detail. The unit comprised a reservoir, variable displacement pump, motor, temperature sensors, filters, breathers, air blast cooler, relief valves, as well as hoses, pipework and the electrical control panel.
Warwick Boring also requested assistance with a valve assembly for the drill head. TSSE sourced the correct components, built and tested the valve block within stringent time and budget constraints.
Warwick Boring are a team of ambitious engineers, developing a solution to revolutionise the tunnelling industry. You can find out more about the people and the team at http://warwickboring.com
Torishima Fluid Power has a wealth of experience in the design and manufacture of bespoke hydraulic power units for many different industry sectors. If you require a new hydraulic system for your next project, please get in touch:
Tel: +44 1926 420847
Email: salestfp@torishima.co.uk
Web: www.torishimaservice.co.uk
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