Boring Company steers a machine using an Xbox controller
Boring Company releases video of engineers steering massive tunneling machine with an XBOX controller – just days after CEO Elon Musk admitted he isn’t sure if the plan will work
- Video shows an engineer steering a tunneling machine with an Xbox controller
- Elon Musk also shared the video, saying they were test-driving a new machine
- It’s not the first time an Xbox controller has been used to steer a machine, as the US Navy and the Army have used 360 controllers in various projects
- Comes as Musk said he couldn’t promise Boring Company tunnels would work
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The Boring Company has developed a new way to dig tunnels.
In a video shared on Twitter, the firm showed a tunnel engineer operating part of a boring machine using an Xbox controller.
Underneath the video, a caption says: ‘Best video game ever.’
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It’s unclear whether Elon Musk’s Boring Company plans to actually use the controller-operated digging method, or if it was just a fun experiment.
The billionaire tech mogul also shared the video on his Twitter account, adding: ‘Test-driving our new boring machine with a [controller].’
It comes just a few days after Musk appeared on the ‘Joe Rogan Experience’ podcast last week, where he admitted that the Boring Company was first started as a ‘hobby company.’
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Started in 2016, the firm uses massive boring machines to dig tunnels that can eventually support high-speed transit systems under Los Angeles, as well as other cities like Baltimore and Chicago in the future.
‘I have this, it’s sort of a hobby company, called the Boring Company, which started out as a joke,’ Musk said on the podcast.
‘And we decided to make it real and dig a tunnel under LA. And then other people asked us to build tunnels, so we said yes in a few cases.’
The Boring Company has developed a new way to dig tunnels. In a video shared on Twitter, the firm showed a tunnel engineer operating part of a boring machine using an Xbox controller
The firm uses massive boring machines to dig tunnels that can support high-speed transit systems under Los Angeles, as well as other cities like Baltimore and Chicago in the future
Musk went on to quip that he was unsure if the project will ultimately succeed.
‘I’m not saying it’s going to be successful,’ Musk explained. ‘…But so far I’ve lived in LA for 16 years and the traffic has always been terrible. And so I don’t see any other ideas for improving the traffic.
‘So in desperation, we are going to build a tunnel, and maybe that tunnel will be successful. And maybe it won’t.
‘I’m not going to try to convince you it’s going to work. Or anyone.’
The Boring Company dug its first trench at SpaceX’s headquarters in Hawthorne, California, and has added more projects since then.
Tech mogul Elon Musk appeared on the ‘Joe Rogan Experience’ podcast last week, where he admitted that the Boring Company was first started as a ‘hobby company’
The Boring Company dug its first trench at SpaceX’s headquarters in Hawthorne, California, and has added more projects since then. Pictured is one of the firm’s tunneling machines
The firm has been known to share cheeky videos of its latest experiments on Instagram and Twitter, having showed a Tesla speeding through a Boring Company tunnel under LA earlier this year.
It’s also not the first time an Xbox controller has been used as a steering device.
In 2017, the US Navy used an Xbox 360 controller to operate submarine periscopes in Virginia.
Using Xbox controllers allows the Navy to train officers more quickly and without adopting other, more expensive technologies like a helicopter-style stick that can cost up to $38,000.
Additionally, the Army’s anti-drone laser also uses an Xbox 360 controller.
WHAT IS ELON MUSK’S ‘BORING’ PLAN?
When Elon Musk first announced his plans to bore a tunnel to his SpaceX offices in Los Angeles, it was hard to know if he was simply venting his frustrations about being stuck in traffic.
‘Traffic is driving me nuts. Am going to build a tunnel boring machine and just start digging…’, he tweeted in December of 2016.
He ended his rant on the social media site with: ‘I am actually going to do this’.
The billionaire’s tunnel-digging firm ‘The Boring Company’ has presented its plans to build a 6.5-mile (10.5 km) shaft under Culver City, California, at a council meeting. Pictured is an image shared by Musk in October of the firm’s test tunnel in Los Angeles
The billionaire first tweeted a picture of his firm’s boring machine back in February 2017 with the caption ‘Minecraft’ – a reference to the popular video game in which players dig large tunnel networks for resources.
On Monday, January 22, 2018, the Boring Company presented plans to build the 6.5-mile (10.5 km) shaft under Culver City, California, at a council meeting.
According to the plans, the privately-funded tunnel would carry cars on ‘electric skates’ at 150 miles per hour (240 kph) to help with LA’s ‘soul-destroying’ congestion.
The proposed route goes through West Los Angeles passing underneath Sepulveda Boulevard through Culver City.
The tunnel could also make Hyperloop adoption viable.
Hyperloop is a proposed method of travel that would transport people at over 600 miles per hour (965.6 kilometers per hour) between distant locations.
Musk’s proposed first tunnel will run from LAX to Culver City, then to Santa Monica, and end in Westwood. Musk claims the tunnel trip will take five minutes, compared to 45 minutes driving in normal LA traffic
It was unveiled by Elon Musk in 2013, who at the time said it could take passengers the 380 miles (610km) from LA to San Francisco in 30 minutes – half the time it takes a plane.
It is essentially a long tube that has had the air removed to create a vacuum.
The tube is suspended off the ground to protect against weather and earthquakes.
In August of 2017, Elon Musk took to social media to share progress on his traffic-beating tunnel beneath Los Angeles, revealing it was big enough to fit a Tesla Model S
Here’s where the Boring Company’s current projects stand:
- Hawthorne: A test tunnel has been permitted and is under construction.
- Los Angeles: An excavation permit application has been submitted to the City of Los Angeles. The project would be a 6.5 mile (10.5 km) proof-of-process tunnel which would run within the City of Los Angeles and Culver City.
- East Coast: The Boring Company says its working with federal and state officials on a DC-to-Baltimore route which would then be extended to New York. The State of Maryland has granted permission for 10.1 miles of tunnel beneath the state-owned part of the Baltimore-Washington. The company has released details of twin tunnels for 35 miles from downtown DC to downtown Baltimore, beneath New York Avenue and then the Baltimore-Washington Parkway. In the future this could be extended to New York.
- Chicago: The Boring Company has been selected to build a high-speed underground transportation system that it says will whisk passengers from downtown Chicago to O’Hare International Airport in mere minutes.
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