First use of unmanned shield tunneling, unmanned entry into Shanghai underground: Construction of the first section tunnel of Shanghai Metro Line 21 | Technology | Section
Autonomous driving is extending from urban roads to underground tunnels. Recently, the construction of the first section tunnel of Shanghai Metro Line 21 began. Unlike other tunnel constructions, Line 21 adopts autonomous driving "unmanned tunneling" for the first time.
Machine equipped with brain, eyes, and ears
The Metro Line 21 is a north-south radial urban line that runs from Pudong New Area to Wusong in Baoshan. At the subway construction site underground, a shield machine with a diameter of 6.76 meters and a height of 2 floors is slowly rotating its cutterhead, and its appearance is no different from other shield machines.
The true difference will only be discovered when entering the interior of the shield tunnel. Traditional shield tunneling is equipped with drivers whose task is to observe the direction of progress and various monitoring indicators at any time during excavation, but here there are no drivers or engineers stationed on site.
"The replacement for drivers and engineers is a set of AI algorithms and intelligent perception systems," Huang Kai, the project leader of the "Intelligent Driving Pioneer" digital intelligence project at Shanghai Tunnel Group, told reporters.
This shield tunneling autonomous driving system, developed by Shanghai Tunnel, is called the "Intelligent Driving Pioneer" digital intelligence project. It integrates big data and AI technology. The shield tunneling machine can make independent judgments, cognition, decision-making, and control, just like implanted with the brain, eyes, and ears.
"If we put it vividly, shield tunneling can 'see' the deformation data of the surrounding soil layer and ground settlement data at any time while advancing, and then adjust its parameters based on these data, such as posture, speed, direction, etc." Huang Kai said.
The first pilot application was in the tunnel section of Metro Line 21, which is approximately 737.694 meters long. "This process no longer requires manual participation, and the advantage lies in avoiding construction risks and quality caused by human factors," said Zheng Cheng, project manager of Shanghai Luqiao Junmin Road Station.
Is it safe for autonomous driving to replace manned driving?
Like people's concerns about autonomous vehicles, is it safe to use autonomous driving technology in major urban projects?
Huang Kai stated that the digital control center located in Tangqiao, Pudong will also conduct a secondary online review and provide "dual insurance". In the control center, key information such as construction risks, engineering quality, construction progress, personnel management, warehousing and transportation, and equipment status are presented in a data-driven form on the large screen, making it clear to management personnel at a glance, ensuring the construction safety of unmanned shield tunneling.
Before the pilot program in Shanghai, the "Intelligent Driving Pioneer" digital intelligence project had accumulated a lot of successful experience. It has been applied in 15 shield tunneling machines in multiple cities across the country, with a cumulative excavation mileage of over 12 kilometers and all data meeting excellent standards. It has also set a record of 829.8 meters of domestic 9-meter shield tunneling in a single month.