Borobotics receives 1.3 million from Innosuisse

Borobotics from Winterthur has received 1.3 million Swiss francs from Innosuisse, the Swiss Innovation Agency, for the development of an innovative drilling robot, according to a LinkedIn post. In response to the problem of the energy-intensive and expensive production of boreholes for geothermal probes, Borobotics wants to revolutionize geothermal heating processes with a drilling robot that can work in a small space and at significantly lower costs.

The Grabowski drilling robot is to be used to bring geothermal energy to city centers. According to the company's website, Grabowski is a 2.5 meter by 135 millimeter robot that replaces the 6 meter high and 10 ton drilling machines currently in use. Grabowski needs a total of 6 to 8 square meters of space. The prototype 2.0 is almost fully assembled and will start the test phase in the coming weeks, according to LinkedIn.

According to the press release, previous methods have disadvantages such as energy intensity, enormous costs, inaccuracy, noise pollution, landscape destruction and space requirements. With additional equipment, the Borobotics drilling robot requires up to 90 percent less space than previous solutions and reduces costs at the same time. Borobotics describes its development as "an earthworm-like robot" that moves vertically into the earth without a drilling rig or drill pipes. ce/gba