Elon Musk, the founder of space technology company- Space X along with the other officials organized a Hyperloop design competition inviting 124 teams from 20 different countries to design the concept and presenting the same before expert jury members of Tesla Motors. The main idea behind Hyperloop is to travel in less pressure tube capsules at high speed in order to cover a large distance in short span. The competition was however; won by MIT team but the TU Delft team of Netherland gained a lot of appreciation by bagging the second position in the competition along with the prize for displaying the most innovative design.
Concept of the design
The design is a development towards the transportation system that allows travelling by way of tubes in partial vacuum, having low pressure and reaching the destination at a speed of 600mph per hour. For example, the Hyperloop capsule will help travelling from one end of Los Angeles to the San Francisco Bay in only half an hour.
Working through magnets
The difference between the design presented by TU Delft team and rest of the teams is in the use of magnets. TU Delft has introduced magnets in the design that allows the capsule to float 2cm above the path. This becomes possible due to the aluminum conductive plate over which the magnet-laden capsule hovers. The capsule will accelerate at a station with the help of linear electric motor, then, hover at a high speed because of the less air present in the tube, and finally slow down on reaching the next station. Energy recovers during braking and this makes the Hyperloop system energy efficient.
The TU Delft team along with 20 other teams will now progress to next level in summers by building a half scale version of the capsule and examine by putting it on a track in California.
Source : TheEngineer.Co.Uk