The massive machines at Elon Musk's Boring Company can be operated by something tiny: An Xbox One controller
The Boring Company via TwitterAn employee of The Boring Company operating machinery using an Xbox One controller.
- The Boring Company shared footage of an Xbox One controller being used for their large-scale infrastructure work.
- The company is currently planning four tunnels across the country as part of its broader efforts to one day provide safe, high-speed transit at a minimal cost.
In a video uploaded to Twitter on September 8th, Elon Musk's Boring Company is seen using an Xbox One controller to manipulate heavy machinery. The tongue-in-cheek post is captioned "Best video game ever" and shows someone using the controller's analog sticks and triggers to rotate the machine and perform different actions.
While, to the casual observer, using an Xbox controller may not seem like the best way to handle such massive machinery, it's not unheard of: The US Navy plans to use Xbox 360 controllers to operate the periscopes on its new submarines, due to their ease of use and familiarity among young sailors, and Xbox controllers have also been used with autonomous cars, including military support vehicles.
During an interview with comedian Joe Rogan last week, Musk said The Boring Company originally began as a hobby project born out of a joke, but the company now has major infrastructure projects planned for Chicago, Washington D.C., Los Angeles and Hawthorne, California. The company's Los Angeles project is called Dugout Loop and aims to install a zero-emissions, high speed transportation system underneath the city.
Dugout Loop will run along a newly excavated three-mile tunnel from Dodger Stadium to a western terminus near existing Los Angeles metro stations. The transit system will travel up to 150 miles per hour and The Boring Company has promised a commute of under four minutes for special events at the stadium. The company has already shown significant progress with the excavation of the Los Angeles tunnel, sharing footage of the tunnel's starting point on social media.
The Boring Company's sense of humor may not go over so well with critics of the Dugout Loop, who have called out the project for a lack of oversight. While speaking with Rogan, Musk admitted that the project may not end up being successful, but could provide a much needed alternative within the clogged Los Angeles transit network.