German tunnel boring team, Team Dirt Torpedo, entered Elon Musk’s “Not-A-Boring-Competition” in the fall of 2021. The competition challenges teams from around the world to develop tunneling solutions that will eventually enable fast, safe, and comfortable subterranean travel. The competition was held in Las Vegas, Nevada and team Dirt Torpedo had traveled a long way with their gear and tools to compete.
The Team Dirt Torpedo needed to prioritize reaching maximum redundancy and minimizing the probability of failure within the IT infrastructure of the tunnel boring machine (TBM). Two Mellanox and two Brocade switches powered the core network which helped them meet the competition requirements for the TBM. After months of testing and building, Team Dirt Torpedo was ready to compete. Then just days before the competition, the elements of the Mojave Desert including tremendous amounts of heat, sand, dust, and other harsh conditions, caused the failure of their core network. Staying calm and collected, Robin and the team relied on Dedicated Networks to get the replacements in time.
Hearing that the team’s core network suffered from component failure, just days before the competition began, Tom Skinner from Dedicated Networks received the request and overnight shipped Team Dirt Torpedo the replacement equipment (Two refurbished Switches) they needed to maintain the network. The two refurbished network switches arrived just in time to plug them into the Dirt Torpedo’s IT infrastructure, allowing them to give it their all in the 2021 “Not-a-Boring Competition.” Dedicated Networks was proud to offer them an affordable refurbished alternative to help them reach their goals. Over a year later, Team Dirt Torpedo is still working diligently to develop this tunnel boring technology.
