Innovative measuring system for EPB tunnelling nominated for the ‘bauma Innovation Award’

‘Being one of the nominees for such a prestigious award out of a total of 208 applicants was a great honour, even if it was unfortunately not enough for first place. However, the nomination alone showed us that we were on the right track with our work and that the added value is recognised by the entire industry,’ says project coordinator Dr Christian Thienert, Head of Tunnelling & Construction Technology at STUVA. The so-called ‘Muck measuring system for EPB tunnel boring machines based on AI’ (MEGA) can characterise the earth slurry on an EPB tunnel boring machine (EPB-TBM) in real time during operation and thus enable higher-quality and sustainable use. The material passes through a spherical pendulum and a plough, with the impulses on the two instruments being measured. The recorded force curves differ depending on the properties of the material. Artificial intelligence links force curves and index values such as shear strength and settlement, which form an important basis for classification. Artificial intelligence links force curves and index values such as shear strength and settlement, which form an important basis for classification. MEGA is a result of the research project ‘REMATCH - Resource-efficient tunnelling based on real-time characterisation of excavated material’, which was funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the French Agence nationale de la recherche (ANR) from 2021 to 2024. The partners were STUVA e. V., Technische Hochschule Köln and Herrenknecht AG as well as Arcadis ESG and LIRIS - Laboratory for Image Processing and Information Systems from France.