The hardest rock in the world is drilled without touching it with this new technology

A San Francisco company has discovered a way to pierce through the stone and drill it without the need for large machines or trenches.

The progress of humanity has always needed powerful tools to modify the environment. We have been building roads or diverting rivers since Roman times.

One of the ways to make our trips shorter is with the creation of tunnels. Doing this type of work is very expensive and requires heavy machinery to be done. Although you have to make not only huge holes, but also smaller tunnels for the infrastructure.

Pipes, cables and so on need the stone to go through and now a San Francisco company, Petra, has invented a robot It uses non-contact thermal technology that penetrates the hardest rocks.

Your drilling system can go through the rock making small tunnels of more than 50 centimeters, reaching up to a meter and a half. These holes are made in a very short time in such a way that it allows you to go backwards, without the need to make larger tunnels for the rest of the machinery.

You can progress like this because the machine head uses heat and pressure for drilling in any type of surface. It is used by remote control and thanks to the vision system it has, it can be done precisely.

The video is a sample of how it works. It is a subtle drilling, but without the need for picks or blows, it manages to pierce the stone.

Novel and efficient

The robot that takes care of all this she calls herself swifty And it has shown that it can handle basalt, granite and everything else that comes its way. Not only is it good, but according to Kim Abrams, founder of the Petra company, it is cheaper.

Cost “30 to 90 percent less than conventional trenchless methods“And it will make it much more economically viable for governments and utilities to install power and communications cables.

This system prevents vandals or catastrophes from damaging these infrastructures, ensuring the supply for more people.

It is an effective invention that seems to have a great future. We hope you continue to expand and that your drilling system goes a long way.