hyperTunnel, the proposed tunneling technique that combines artificial intelligence (AI) machine learning and swam robotics will exhibit for the first time at the World Tunnelling Congress (WTC) in Copenhagen, Denmark Sept. 2-8. The program will return to the British Tunnelling Society (BTS) Conference & Exhibition in London on Oct. 11-12, after formally launching its method to transform underground construction at the same event in 2021.

In a release the company said that it will present a working demonstration of a section of its robot-led swarm construction platform at both shows. Visitors will be able to see ‘hyperBots’ working from within an underground pipe to conduct their various programmed tasks as part of a grid. The method, via which complete structures are built according to a digital twin, is designed to be substantially faster, safer, more economical and more environmentally friendly than current techniques.

“Our attendance at both shows reflects widespread industry acceptance of and interest in hyperTunnel’s solutions, from around the world. There is a genuine awakening going on in relation to the use of robots, digital twins and AI in construction – it’s not exclusive territory to hyperTunnel of course, but our advanced integrated package is now established as offering what the tunnelling and construction industries are aiming for in many existing and new applications,” said Jeremy Hammond, co-CEO and co-Founder of hyperTunnel.

hyperTunnel has grown significantly during the past 12 months and enjoyed a string of successes in terms of new investments, industry partnerships, talent acquisition, the completion of a full-size pilot tunnel in the United Kingdom.

In June, hyperTunnel received a financial investment from VINCI to support business expansion and further develop the hyperTunnel method in practical situations.

As part of that deal, hyperTunnel recently joined VINCI’s innovation platform Leonard as a member of its start-up accelerator program, Catalyst. hyperTunnel also won the prestigious annual Construction Start-up Competition in Miami, FL last year, which Leonard co-organizes with other sector heavyweights such as Ferrovial and Cemex Ventures.

“hyperTunnel’s technology can be truly game-changing when it comes to improving the safety and sustainability of underground construction projects,” said Guillaume Bazouin, head of start-up and Intrapreneurs programs at Leonard. “It strongly aligns with our goals of rapidly responding to the climate emergency by enabling technological advances that have a substantial environmental impact. hyperTunnel also boasts exceptional leadership and engineering teams, and we are looking to support their great success in the near future.”

hyperTunnel was also selected by The European Innovation Council (EIC), Europe’s flagship innovation programme to identify, develop and scale up breakthrough technologies and game-changing innovations, to receive?funding of 1.88 million Euros?under its?EIC Accelerator scheme.?
hyperTunnel has been picked by Innovate UK to join its?Global Business Innovation Programme. It has also won?Startup of the Year at this year’s Construction Technology Awards in Dubai. In 2021, hyperTunnel?was highlighted as a?Top 50 Contech?Startup?and was among 10 winners of the global?Construction Startup Competition.

hyperTunnel continues to attract outstanding talent to the business: Sven Asmus, formerly Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at MBCC Group, is Director of Chemistry & Materials Development; Tao Xinghui, a leader in the field of data science, and Edge-to-Cloud AI, has been appointed Head of AI & Digital Twin; Sid Shaikh an ex Ocado, GSK and Mars technology innovator has been hired as hyperTunnel’s new Head of Robotics. At Ocado, Sid and his team developed and delivered into production?the first three generations of the Ocado Smart Platform, a very similar system in principle, to the hyperTunnel method.