Will the Hyperloop change transportation forever?
Fast. Futuristic. And on the verge of becoming a reality. The Hyperloop is flying towards the finish line of development.
What is it?
The Hyperloop is a proposed mode of passenger and freight transportation. It is described as a sealed tube or system of tubes with low air pressure through which a pod may travel substantially free of air resistance or friction. The Hyperloop could potentially convey people or objects at airline or hypersonic speeds while being energy efficient compared with existing high-speed rail systems.
The Hyperloop concept operates by sending specially designed “capsules” or “pods” through a steel tube maintained at a partial vacuum. In Musk’s original concept, each capsule floats on a 0.02–0.05 inch (0.5–1.3 mm) layer of air provided under pressure to air-caster “skis” The design proposes passengers experience a maximum inertial acceleration of 0.5 g, about 2 or 3 times that of a commercial airliner on takeoff and landing.
In the alpha-level concept, passenger-only pods are to be 7 ft. 4 inch (2.23 m) in diameter and are projected to reach a top speed of 760 mph (1,220 km/h) to maintain aerodynamic efficiency.
Hyperloop Timeline
1904 — The vactrain concept was first proposed by Robert H. Goddard. The concept was also depicted in the 1973 movie Genesis II.
July 2012 — Elon Musk first mentioned a concept for a hypersonic mode of transport. The name Hyperloop was chosen because it would go in a loop.
May 2013 — Musk likened the Hyperloop to a “cross between a Concorde and a railgun and an air hockey table”
June 2105 — SpaceX announced that it would build a 1-mile-long (1.6 km) test track to be located next to SpaceX’s Hawthorne facility. The track would be used to test pod designs supplied by third parties in the competition.
November 2015 — By November 2015, with several commercial companies and dozens of student teams pursuing the development of Hyperloop technologies, the Wall Street Journal asserted that “The Hyperloop Movement”, as some of its unaffiliated members refer to themselves, is officially bigger than the man who started it.
May 2016 — The MIT Hyperloop team developed the first Hyperloop pod prototype. Their design uses electrodynamic suspension for levitating and eddy current braking.
January 2017 — The MIT Hyperloop team demonstrated the first ever low-pressure Hyperloop run in the world.
July 2017 — The team WARR Hyperloop from the Technical University of Munich won the competition by reaching a top speed of 324 km/h (201 mph) during their run. The defending champions, the WARR hyperloop team, beat their own record in July 2018.
August 2019 — The award for the “fastest pod” was won by the team TUM Hyperloop (by NEXT Prototypes e.V.). The winning pod reached a top speed of 463 km/ h (288 mph)
November 2020 — The first-ever passenger test of Hyperloop technology was successfully conducted by Virgin Hyperloop with two employees of the company.
How does this effect you & the transportation industry
New technologies mean other old technologies are going to be pushed off the table. Sooner or later everyone we know will be riding this technological feat. The path towards the end of development is a path only a few companies and organizations will be able to pass.
For communities and cities, this could mode of transportation could replace trains and allow for a much faster route in and out of cities. The Hyperloop’s high speed will allow passengers a fast flight on long routes like San Francisco to Los Angeles in under 35 minutes.
For the transportation industry, this mode of transportation could change the way people view transporting goods and people over long and short distance. It could wipe out current modes like trains and even cars.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the hyperloop is a massive transportation project taken head on by companies like Virgin Hyperloop One, HTT, Zeleros, and more. If this project does cross the finish line, this mode of transportation will definitely rock the transportation industry. For now though, let’s just watch on the sidelines.