The Boring Company’s (TBC) 2024 Not-a-Boring Competition recently started with 130 students in 8 teams from 5 countries. The student teams will compete based on maximum tunneling speed and innovation. Who can beat Gary the Snail?
This year, TBC added three mini-competitions or projects that can be completed in shorter timelines than the main event. Below are the three mini-competitions and their objectives.
- Digging Project – Create an innovative digging system for a tunnel-boring machine.
- Tunnel Lining Project – Create an innovative tunnel reinforcement system for a tunnel boring machine.
- Navigation Project – Innovate a tunnel boring machine’s autonomous guidance and navigation system, which cannot use GPS to localize.
For the 2024 Not-a-Boring Competition’s main event, teams will compete in three categories. In order of priority, the categories are fastest to complete the tunnel, innovative design, build, and/or test, and most accurate tunnel.
The 2024 Not-a-Boring Competition has begun! The 130 students (8 teams and 5 countries) are competing on max tunneling speed and innovation. Beat the snail! pic.twitter.com/KFro6J3mjB
— The Boring Company (@boringcompany) March 27, 2024
Last year, five teams advanced to the finals. The 2023 Not-a-Boring Competition finalists are listed below.
- CU Hyperloop – University of Colorado Boulder – United States
- The Diggeridoos – Virginia Tech – United States
- Swissloop Tunneling – ETH Zurich – Switzerland
- TUM Boring – Innovation in Tunneling – Technical University of Munich (TUM) – Germany
- The Warwick Boring Team – University of Warwick – United Kingdom
TUM Boring was the Overall Winner in 2023 with a tunnel length of 11.80 m. Swissloop Tunneling won the Innovation Award, while CU Hyperloop took home the Accuracy and Navigation Award in the 2023 Not-a-Boring Competition.
Registration for the 2025 Not-a-Boring Competition is officially open.
“The 2025 Not-a-Boring Competitions will challenge competition teams over 8 days and will be held in Bastrop, Texas. Competition Week 2025 is preliminarily scheduled to occur in the spring of 2025,” announced TBC.
If you have any tips, contact me at maria@teslarati.com or via X @Writer_01001101.
