The global growth of e-commerce is driving a consumer behavior shift, where goods and services are delivered rapidly and immediately. There is a need for advanced new network to support this future. Built as the fastest way to cross the surface of the earth, Hyperloop represents the greatest leap in transport infrastructure for generations. Hyperloop was proposed to realize the next leap in transportation and to push the boundaries of innovation with courage to do something different. Hyperloop will have passengers sitting in pods and the travel will be at airline speeds with pressurized tubes using electric propulsion and magnetic levitation. The concept promises to slash journey time to major cities from several hours to matter of minutes. Whilst it may feel like science fiction, Hyperloop is on the cusp of becoming a reality.
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and Founder of SpaceX, unveiled his solution for the specific case of high traffic city areas that are less than 1500km or 900 miles apart. The Hyperloop is a mode of high-speed transportation system with a top speed of 760 mph (1223 kmh). Elon Musk calls it a ’fifth mode’ of transportation, an alternative to boats, aircraft, automobiles, and trains. Musk was very disappointed when the “high speed” bullet train was approved in California as it is “both one of the most expensive per mile and one of the slowest in the world”.
Elon Musk expects the next mode of transportation to provide massive returns on investment in areas of Safety, Speed, Cost, Convenience, Weather Immunity, Self-sufficiency, Earthquake Resistance.
Elon Musk originally promised a tube transportation system that is so quick that it can take a traveler from Los Angeles to San Francisco in 30 minutes. And the proposed design definitely lives up to that promise. Hyperloop consists of a system of elevated tubes propped up by concrete pylons spaced out every 100 feet. Majority of the system is designed to travel next to existing highway to keep the cost down. The tube would be about 7 feet in diameter inside and the cars themselves would seat 28 people per capsule. And the best part, solar grids are placed on top of the tubes in order to generate the electricity necessary for powering Hyperloop.
The stations will be organized with security measures similar to what you might find at an airport. In general, you would check in digitally at a station, load your bags into the rear of the capsule, and get on the Hyperloop. The capsules track is designed to support 40 capsules in total, which allows between 840 and 3360 passengers to be transported at peak times with capsules departing between 30 seconds and 2 minutes apart. Now the main route will travel between San Francisco and Los Angeles, but possible ground track could allow for stations Sacramento, San Diego, Fresno and Las Vegas.
Hyperloop, How does it work?
Hyperloop is not a fully vacuum tube system like some had speculated. According to Elon Musk, a vacuum introduces insurmountable maintenance problems and it is subject to a lot of potential issues. Instead, the Hyperloop would work by creating very low pressure inside the tubes, replicating the travel environment at 150000 feet above sea level. The Hyperloop capsules travel about 1mm above the tube wall, along skis that float on a thin film of pressurized air. Around 5000 watts of batteries power the on-board compressor that compresses air in the front and shoots it out the back to create some of the thrust and also into the skis to maintain lift .The compressor is located at the front of the capsules and looks a little bit like a jet turbine.
The new cutting edge linear electric motor propells the pod magnetically. A series of pumps remove nearly all the air inside the tube to allow for energy efficient, quite, and incredibly fast journey. The future pods will integrate sustainable operations powered by reneable energy, utilizing network capacity both from freight and passengers.
However, linear induction motors are needed to achieve the top speeds of 760 mph, which is something you might find in maglev trains and some roller coasters. A magnetic rail called a Rotor is mounted to the bottom of the tube, which interacts with a tube mounted accelerator and decelerator sections called Stator or Stationary Rotor.
Implementation
It is important to note that this project is in its very very early stages with only a design for the Hyperloop system. Elon Musk’s proposal comes with and estimated cost between 6-10 Billion dollars, depending on which design will is employed. One design is passenger only version and secondary proposed design allows for passengers and cars or freights to be transported as well.
Elon Musk published the design as an Open Source Project, hoping others will take the time to research and improve the design. He was very clear that he intends to keep his primarily focus on Tesla and SpaceX at the moment. The Hyperloop designs and plans predict that it will be a 10th to 6th of the cost of proposed high speed rail systems in California, and it will provide 5 times quicker travel time as well.
The Hyperloop One
The concept work led to formation of several start ups and student teams, developing various aspects of hyperloop technology with varying degrees of success. Now, several fully fledged companies are making significant strides to bring Hyperloop Systems into reality. The clear leaders in the pact are Virgin Hyperloop One, who are on track to achieve their bold ambition of a Hyperloop system in operation by 2021. Originally formed in 2014 as Hyperloop One, the company was rebranded following a significant investment from Virgin’s Sir Richard Branson in 2017.
Deviating slightly from Musk’s original plan, Virgin’s Hyperloop One technology combines two basic principles. The first is magnetic levitation (maglev), which is a technology used in monorails to lift passengers pods and move them along their rails. Magnetic levitation uses two sets of magnets, one to repel the train upward to lift the pod upwards and the other to move the floating train along the rail at considerable speed with reduced friction. The second principle is the use of a low pressure vacuum sealed environment for the passenger pods to travel through. By removing most of the air from the tubes and having no contact to the ground, the pods face little to no resistance. The air pressure inside the tube is equivalent to flying 200 thousand feet above the sea level, such an environment enables the pods to reach speeds of up to 760 miles per hour using very little energy. By virtue of being in a tube, the system is protected from the weather and can operate from virtual any weather conditions. Virgin Hyperloop One’s system is controlled by advanced software to ensure acceleration and deceleration happen gradually, going relatively unnoticed by those travelling inside.
Having built a 500 meter track in the Nevada desert, Virgin Hyperloop One have carried out several Hyperloop tests, focusing on individual aspects of the system and a complete full scale systems test in May 2017. The propulsion, breaking, levitation and vacuum systems are all performing well and the team have achieved top speeds of over 240 miles per hour to date.
Where will it be built?
Virgin Hyperloop One announced a global challenge to find the roots of best place to build the Hyperloop technology. With over 2000 entries, the scope was reduced to just 35 candidate locations. With each entry enjoying great support from governments and urban planners. With 10 winners across five countries (US, Canada, UK, India, and Mexico), Virgin Hyperloop One are working in partnership with each of the locations on how best to deliver Hyperloop technology in live networks. In February 2018, the firm unveiled a prototype passenger pod for the Dubai Abudhabi route to slash the travel time from 2 hours to just 12 minutes.
The Hyperloop technology has many advantages including the stations to be located near inner-city areas, with easy links to existing transport infrastructure. The Hyperloop structure has an advantage over air travel as the airports are located with fewer accessibility options. Additionally, the system is being developed with quick check-in process and security checks Another clear benefit is the speed, as it would be possible to live in a different city if it could significantly reduce travel times, which would open up wide range of housing and employment opportunities. It could also take pressure of our cities where infrastructure is still catching up with development and housing market unattainable for most. The Hyperloop system also requires very little energy to propel pods through its tube as the vacuum environment poses very little resistance, as such the system can be powered with renewable energy, it provides the clear alternative to air travel.
After reading this article, hopefully you have a clear understanding of how Hyperloop works. We would like to hear your thoughts so let us know in the comment section below.
Are you optimistic that Hyperloop would come to fulfillment or do you see it failing?
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Source: Hyperloop One, HyperloopAlpha
I am officially a tech addict and enjoy providing my views on matters related to this industry. I am always interested in trying out new tech gadgets and I have owned multiple smartphones including the legendary HTC One, SGS2, Nexus 4, iPhone 4, 5S, 6S, XR, Note 9. You can ask me any tech related questions in the comment section or on twitter @hookedNav