Tunnel boring machines enter immersive realities

Tunnel Boring Machines Enter Immersive Realities
ACCIONA has begun virtualizing its tunneling operations. This process allows real-time monitoring and optimization of tunnel boring machine operations without needing to be physically present, using technologies like virtual reality headsets.
Once Zhuang Zhou dreamed he was a butterfly, a butterfly flitting and fluttering around, happy with himself and doing as he pleased. He didn’t know he was Zhuang Zhou. Suddenly he woke up, and there he was, solid and unmistakable Zhuang Zhou. But he didn’t know if he were Zhuang Zhou who had dreamed he was a butterfly or a butterfly dreaming he was Zhuang Zhou”.
wrote Master Zhuang in the 4th century BCE.
More than two millennia later, a renowned physicist from the University of Portsmouth named Melvin Vopson formulated the  second law of infodynamics : that every system tends toward minimal information content and that information is equivalent to energy, just as energy is equivalent to matter. This thesis bolstered an idea philosophers have speculated on since that ancient Taoist’s famous butterfly story:  reality could be a simulation .
This brings us to immersive realities —environments recreated so persistently that they are experienced similarly to real ones. Moreover, these realities, beyond simulating future scenarios, provide tools to enhance and expand human capabilities in the physical world.
At ACCIONA, we believe innovation should serve our goal of leaving a positive impact wherever we operate. Every technology must address a real need.  The future is not just to be predicted but also to be created . That’s why we analyze the utility of each technology, whether digital twins or immersive realities, and consider how they can  contribute to the   efficiency and sustainability of our operations .
At first glance, there seems to be nothing more distant from virtual reality than a 2,500-ton tunnel boring machine (TBM) digging deep into the earth. These are some of our most powerful tools for tackling underground infrastructure projects like  Norway’s Follo Line tunnel  or  Sao Paulo’s Metro Line 6 . Yet,  we’ve found an intersection between these machines and the new frontier of reality . Join us on this virtual journey into the earth’s depths.
A diver inspects the cutting tools on the TBM’s head . They might need to replace some of the 200-kilogram cutting discs. The diver isn’t underwater but underground, in the  hyperbaric chamber designed to prevent the collapse of the earth wall  ahead of the machine. This is an example of the extreme conditions in which these giant steel worms operate. Inspecting the cutters is essential, but so is having a  geological map indicating variations in substrates  or the presence of water pockets that could flood the tunnel.
To grasp the challenge, consider that a few years ago,  one of our tunnel boring machines set a world record  in the Quito metro tunnel, advancing  80 meters in 24 hours . Besides drilling, these mobile factories must install several-ton concrete segments to secure the tunnel as they progress. From the outset, we understood the need for  extensive data on what was happening dozens of meters underground .
Digitizing tunnel boring machines was the first step on our roadmap. By the late 2010s, ACCIONA had begun  working with 200 to 300 sensors, providing insights into the machines’ performance  and environmental conditions. Parameters like thrust, rotation, consumption, and potential failures were monitored.
How could we cross-reference and interpret this vast and disparate flow of big data to assist the tunnel boring machine pilots in real-time, while simultaneously optimizing their operation and maintenance? This aid was necessary not only for the pilots in the tunnel but also for those still in training. We needed a new communication interface, a way to make this data readily accessible to our experts in an agile, intuitive, and effective manner. Despite the diversity of sources, the data had to be accessible in a single environment. Immersive reality became the logical and inevitable conclusion of our evolution.
Inside the tunnel boring machine
The cabin of a tunnel boring machine is a cramped space filled with a massive amount of data displayed on various screens.
An underground pilot
The primary person responsible for the operation is the pilot, who is physically present in the cabin.
From screens to an immersive reality
Until now, the information from the screens could be accessed from other computers, but virtual reality has been key in enhancing and amplifying the immersive experience and optimizing work processes.
A new collaborative environment
Immersive reality allows experts to access the tunnel boring machine simultaneously from anywhere they are (above ground at the work site, in the project control center, in another country…), view all the data, and interact with the rest of the team as if they were in the same place where the tunneling is happening.
More efficient and safer TBMs
This new tool optimizes the machinery’s energy and economic resources, improves processes, allows for faster and more efficient decision-making, and enhances the safety of the operators.
First, it’s essential to  understand how a TBM works . Typically, each of these machines has a  pilot  who monitors the information displayed on various screens, much like a train engineer. If any issues arise, they communicate with the construction manager via a phone link. In addition to the onscreen operational data, the team relies on the geological map of the area and indications about buildings and structures on the surface. Depending on these factors, the TBM must move at varying speeds.
Imagine, however, that this TBM  “engineer” had a team of experts connecting from anywhere in the world and experiencing the cabin firsthand , just as they do. Each participant would use a virtual reality headset, see what is happening, interact with the rest of the team, and point to various screens to highlight critical data. This means  enhancing the pilots’ capabilities through immersive reality   and potentially allowing remote control of these machines in the future . This procedure is already becoming a reality in ACCIONA’s TBMs on the São Paulo metro project. Let’s see how.
Being present in a TBM through immersive reality is now possible. We have implemented this as a case study in one of ACCIONA’s most ambitious projects: the fifteen kilometers of tunnel bored for Sao Paulo’s Metro Line 6 in Brazil.
Throughout the project,  we have created a virtual environment that recreates the TBM cabin and all its screens, as well as the information from other tools . This environment now faithfully and in real-time displays all the data captured underground during the project.
Thus, our production engineers and consultants can now connect simultaneously from anywhere in the world, check the data, interact with the rest of the team, and advise the TBM pilot. In fact, it is highly likely that in one of the numerous tunneling projects we have ahead in this decade, we will begin to apply this technology as the main communication method on the site, as well as in training future pilots.
Our engineers can now connect simultaneously from anywhere in the world, check the data, interact with the rest of the team, and advise the TBM pilot.
If the technological evolution started with the digitalization of TBMs, it is likely that soon we will  no longer need the pilot’s presence in the cabin, allowing for safer control from the surface . Additionally, the gradual implementation of big data will enable support analysis through artificial intelligence.
The ever-closer  future suggests that these colossal machines will eventually become almost autonomous . For now, our mission is to use all the technologies at our disposal to improve the efficiency, safety, and sustainability of our operations as part of a cultural transformation process. This way, envir…

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