VirtuRail ASVs Enter the Tunnel
Since 2021, Bludenz-based company Jäger Bau has offered an innovative solution through its newly founded subsidiary VirtuRail. Together with automation specialists from Minetronics, the young team developed the idea of fully electric, automated service vehicles on rubber tires, with the aim of eliminating the need for any tracks or other mechanical guidance systems. With the help of design experts from Reisch Maschinenbau in Frastanz, VirtuRail turned this idea into reality within just nine months.
The VirtuRail ASVs (Automated Service Vehicles) run flexibly without tracks while still maintaining 100% accuracy. This is made possible by the control electronics installed in the vehicles, combined with radar, LIDAR, and ultrasonic sensors. These sensors help the vehicle respond to constantly changing environmental conditions and safely navigate through the tunnel. Forward-facing radar and 3D laser sensors detect obstacles on the road. If there are any, the ASVs either evade them or come to a stop if avoidance is not possible. The 360° ultrasonic sensors, similar to car parking sensors, additionally help analyze the vehicle’s surroundings and detect nearby obstacles.
Using RFID technology, the driving route can be divided into different sections. The ASVs read the information from the RFID tags as they pass by, allowing them to know which section of the route they are on and adjust their driving behavior accordingly. For example, they stay on the right side of a two-lane bridge, drive in the center of the main tunnel, and reduce speed when approaching the tunnel boring machine, where space is extremely tight, to position themselves with centimeter precision.
The ASVs can operate either individually or connected in a convoy of multiple vehicles. Depending on the task at hand, they use different attachments. In convoy operation, the driver usually sits in a cabin on one ASV and can monitor the entire environment via a video wall. In single operation without a cabin, the driver is near the ASV and controls it via remote control. Typically, the installed assistance systems handle the control of the convoy, with the operator only having a supervisory role, intervening in emergencies.
Currently, the ASVs are being produced in three different widths. Depending on the tunnel diameter and the materials being transported, either the ASV C120 (1.20 meters wide), C160, or C180 is used. The C160, for example, can transport up to 27 tons of payload at speeds up to 25 km/h. The ASVs transport all types of construction materials, tools, and the heavy precast concrete segments used to secure the tunnel. The transportation of materials is usually done in a convoy. As a single vehicle, the ASV can also be used in the tunnel to position and place individual precast concrete segments, equipped with a specially designed placement device.
The ASVs, weighing up to 40 tons, are powered by two 100 kW electric motors, ensuring emission-free operation that preserves the valuable fresh air in the tunnel. The batteries are charged during the loading process at the construction site facilities.
So far, 19 ASVs are in operation on two construction sites: the construction of the 25 km-long diversion tunnel for the Kühtai reservoir power plant in Tyrol and the Kerenzerberg tunnel in Switzerland. Valuable experience is being gained from these two projects, which will contribute to further development of the vehicles.
VirtuRail currently employs 10 full-time staff and is based in the new Jäger Bau headquarters in Bludenz. As a member of the Subspace Energy Association, VirtuRail collaborates with other companies on safety issues related to the use of electric construction machinery in underground mining.
Background
This text was published in Thema Vorarlberg in September 2024 as part of WISTO’s series Technology in Focus.
Text (c)Manuela de Pretis
Photo (c) Stefan Kothner
