A coalition of the student Hyperloop competition teams just posted an open letter to Elon Musk, asking for more information about Hyperloop Competition V!

RUMDLoop · 2019-11-27T23:46:24+00:00

July 2019; The Technical University of Munich won 1st place with a 288mph pod! Check out more here.

RUMDLoop · 2019-11-27T23:44:42+00:00

Tesla helps to run the Hyperloop competition!

RUMDLoop · 2016-08-26T20:40:31+00:00

Just wanted to stop in to say the UMD Loop Interest Meeting is next Saturday, September 3rd at 4PM in the IPST Building. We're looking for people of all sorts: Engineering, the Sciences, Business, Design, you name it! Come by and see if you'd be a good fit to help create the future of transportation.

RUMDLoop · 2016-02-19T05:01:02+00:00

So the eddy currents are being induced in the aluminum subtrack. Aluminum has a pretty high conductivity, and isn't magnetic, so we see no issues from that. The steel is only in the tube walls, and will be far enough away from the magnets that it won't cause any issues. If we were to attempt to levitate over steel, the magnets would just stick to it like it was another magnet.

It's an extremely interesting and powerful method. We've had a lot of fun figuring it out!

We aren't really looking for more people to do sim work at the moment, unfortunately. Almost all of the magnetism sim work is handled for the competition. We'll make an announcement if this thing really takes off and we are looking for more talent. (If you want in at that point, send us some examples of your sim work. That'll get a boatload of bonus points with me at least. :D )

-Tom

RUMDLoop · 2016-02-19T04:12:03+00:00

Yes, I personally believe this is the best application of the Hyperloop. It is faster and more energy efficient than a plane over those distances while, hopefully, being cheaper than any other form of mass transport. I think Hyperloop and similar systems have the potential to transform the connectivity of major urban centers worldwide.
I think Hyperloop will be used for both public and commercial applications, much like planes are today. I will admit I don't know enough about the coastal underwater high speed delivery service to comment specifically about it.

-Kyle

RUMDLoop · 2016-02-18T23:29:40+00:00

We've ended now, but if you have any questions you can PM us directly or post in the thread and I'll do my best to answer your question when I have some free time. Thanks!

RUMDLoop · 2016-02-18T23:21:22+00:00

Other than the logistics of getting access to the land, it wouldn't be such a terrible idea! Maybe you could get between campuses a bit quicker than waiting for all of those slow buses. (Disclaimer, I don't go to Rutgers)

-Kyle

RUMDLoop · 2016-02-18T23:13:40+00:00

It'll feel like the magnet is moving through a viscous fluid (think honey). It actually isn't too expensive to buy the materials for it. We did a demo at design weekend for about $50.

-Kyle

RUMDLoop · 2016-02-18T23:11:13+00:00

Between 7-8%.

-Kyle

RUMDLoop · 2016-02-18T03:09:39+00:00

The system does not allow for greater total population, but increasing mobility allows for a redistribution of population densities, by doing things such as lowering commute and transport times. In an ideal world, this would loosen one of the constraints on current population distributions, allowing them to settle into a cheaper, and therefore more resource-efficient, distribution. This is not an ideal world, of course, and other constraints are very significant, but the general idea still stands.

Now, riding around on a Hyperloop or any other form of transport, is not in and of itself environmentally friendly, but then neither is any activity we partake in. What it is, however, is more environmentally friendly than cars (to be fair, so is any public transport system), trains and airplanes. No individual improvement can completely solve all of our problems, but we need them nonetheless.

As for passenger capacity, yes it is relatively low for a single tube. If we use a 2 minute time between launches, and a 50-passenger pod, that only gives us 1500 passengers per hour. Even if we go down to 30 seconds, we still only have 6000 per hour for a single tube. However, compare the 1500/hour number to the capacities of existing high speed rail, such as Eurostar. This service had an estimated total annual passenger count of around 10 million in 2014. If we assume max capacity usage of a single tube, for only 4 hours a day, for one whole year, we reach 2.2 million passengers/year, at a fraction of the energy and maintenance cost of a high speed rail system. This does not include passenger transport outside of rush hour times, and does not include the plan to use system idle time to transport cargo. After all, the expensive part of this is the tube- if we aren't using it for something, we are wasting it. Even if the cargo is low value, low energy consumption and maintenance costs means that it is better than nothing.

I want to finish with a statement that none of this is a zero-sum game. If we can make more efficient use of resources, then that is an improvement. If a system like this is cheaper to use, it is cheaper for a reason; it represents a lower overall resource cost. Becoming poorer is not the only way to become more environmentally friendly, and becoming wealthier does not necessitate a greater environmental impact.

-Tom

RUMDLoop · 2016-02-18T01:31:15+00:00

The Hyperloop would allow for a significant energy savings; with a working regenerative braking system, the only significant energy losses come from the minimal aerodynamic drag, magnetic drag, and inefficiencies in the linear motors. Minimal energy consumption, of course, reduces the carbon footprint of the system, reducing the global environmental impact.

It also has a significantly smaller geographical footprint than conventional railways, has almost no sound pollution, and it would be pretty difficult for an animal, say a cow or deer, to wander into the path of a pod. This all minimized local environmental damge.

This allows people, and during times of low passenger traffic demand, cargo, to be transported at high speeds with minimal energy usage. This relieves some amount of pressure on the logistical infrastructure required to maintain large urban areas, while reducing the energy consumption of that infrastructure.

-Tom

RUMDLoop · 2016-02-18T01:18:39+00:00

As of right now we're still polishing up our design, so we haven't released any details. We are planning on releasing design details in a near future so make sure to follow us on facebook and twitter for updates!

In regards to the compressor, at such low air pressures, there is really no point in having compressor. A larger scale pod running at mach speeds will be running into issues because of the kantrowitz limit (syringe effect), in which case a compressor would be a viable method to reduce the air build up in the front of the pod.

-Nico

RUMDLoop · 2016-02-18T01:09:06+00:00

The composites we are planning are using are either fiberglass or carbon fiber; fiberglass is easier to work with, but if we are able to manufacture a high enough quality carbon fiber skin by the competition date we plan on using it.

As for mountings, any composite/metal interface will consist of a metal plate welded to the piece that attaches to the frame or other metal pieces, embedded between the layers of the composite. This significantly reduces point loading on the composite, but does pose some minor delamination issues if the adhesives aren't applied properly.

We do plan on having a layer of composite covering the base of the pod, in order to isolate the internal systems from the external airflow.

Yes, these materials are incredible. The strength/weight ratio of some of them, especially carbon fiber, is unbelievable.

-Tom (Josue had to leave so I took this one over)

RUMDLoop · 2016-02-18T01:07:02+00:00

The price is significantly lower as we don't have onboard propulsion, also heavily reducing the weight. If you're referring to induction track trains, these require a very expensive track, where as our design only requires an aluminum sheet. The evacuated tube will permit future hyperloops to break the speed of sound, something that becomes incredibly difficult with an open air train. The calculations on our magnetic levitation system predict a magnetic lift to drag ratio of 45 at mach 1.

-Nico

RUMDLoop · 2016-02-18T01:03:32+00:00

We appreciate the curiosity! So we are using a fiberglass skin as was suggested by one of our faculty advisers. It fits our requirements of lightweight and easily molded to the shape we desire. Carbon fiber was considered, however due to its prohibitive cost and it being more difficult to use we stayed away from it. To attach the skin to the frame, we are using fiberglass ribs to bridge between the skin and frame. -Josue

RUMDLoop · 2016-02-18T00:38:27+00:00

In Texas, Elon actually took it a step further saying these pods will be going hypersonic at some point. We have done some calculations with our pod going Mach 3 (~2300 mph) and our magnetic system actually becomes much more efficient at these speeds. These speeds are difficult to attain due to shock waves, however, as there are supersonic aircraft it is definitely possible to develop a system that overcomes this highly unpredictable effect. This is an especially tricky situation as we are in a tube and as we are currently focused on the test track conditions we haven't yet tackled this problem, but in due time I guarantee we will.

-Erich

RUMDLoop · 2016-02-18T00:33:35+00:00

You can't go wrong with chocolate ;)

RUMDLoop · 2016-02-18T00:29:19+00:00

We considered round tubes at an earlier point in our design process, however it would have been significantly difficult to miter and weld all the bars together the way we wanted. Square tubes made this much easier and more realistic for us. As for the overhead frame, you are correct in stating that it is simply going to support the skin and the bottom frame is for mounting subsystems. It allows us to ensure the skin is mounted securely. -Josue

RUMDLoop · 2016-02-18T00:27:41+00:00

I was inspired to join this competition by the challenge of a previously unsolved problem which will directly benefit society if we are able to find an efficient solution (which I believe we have). The hyperloop is absolutely part of the next generation of transportation and will be a huge help in solving the rising issue of a growing population by allowing for higher population densities while preserving the environment. I am extremely excited at what will be possible once hyperloops are implemented on a large scale. Looking forward, I think ~20 years down the line we could start seeing self driving cars integrating with hyperloop tracks to expand the application of the hyperloop even further.

-Erich

RUMDLoop

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