ABSTRACT
Construction of underground tunnels via tunnel boring machine (TBM) is regarded as costly – particularly in terms of human labour, machine construction and material requirements, and significant time duration of projects. Several recent examples of this construction method demonstrate the large cost and time associated with manufacturing TBMs prior to the actual tunnelling process beginning, as well as the requirement of the TBMs to be supported by hundreds of personnel. When deployed to construct kilometres of tunnel, advancement rates result in projects typically taking years to complete. hyperTunnel proposes an alternative construction method which “3D prints’’ tunnels using swarm robotics – hyperSwarm. hyperSwarm consists of thousands of small individual tunnelling robots working concurrently in an effort that is envisaged to substantially reduce environmental impact, reduce project lead-time to months rather than years, and reduce costs by orders of magnitude. Advanced integration and management of the robotic swarm means only a small team of engineers would be required to remotely operate the swarm, presenting further benefits in labour costs, as well as health and safety. An overview of the 3D printing construction method deployed by hyperSwarm, as well as its development, is provided. Various stages of the development are detailed, including robotic functions and the way construction materials are controllably placed to form underground structures ahead of the tunnel excavation.
