Staying in the loop

On 22 January, the TU Delft Hyperloop team outlined their plans to make this ambitious concept a reality during a presentation in the Aula Conference Centre. The team, which is based in the Dreamhall, has spent the past several months designing a hyperloop system that could one day forever change the way we travel.

It’s all part of an initiative orchestrated by Elon Musk, the visionary entrepreneur who helped give rise to Tesla Motors and SpaceX. The team from TU Delft is one of many from around the world competing to win SpaceX’s Hyperloop Pod Competition. They’ll be heading to Texas A&M University to demonstrate their concept at the contest’s ‘Design Weekend’ scheduled for 29 – 30 January.

“We’ll be there to convince the judges that our hyperloop design is the best design for the future,” team captain Tim Houter said during the presentation. “And then we’ll get back to the Dreamhall and start producing our vehicle, assembling it and testing it.”

If everything goes as planned, the team will be selected to go to California this summer to put their vehicle to the ultimate test alongside other prototype ‘capsules’ on SpaceX’s Hyperloop Test Track.

While all of this might sound bizarre, travelling through tubes is a concept that dates back to the Victorian Age when frustrated commuters dreamt of a faster way to travel than by rail. It’s since been featured in countless science-fiction TV shows, films and novels but building a real hyperloop system has proved impossible until now.

“Travelling from Amsterdam to Enschede on a train took two hours and thirteen minutes in 1949,” Houter said. “In 2016, it actually takes two hours and fourteen minutes.”

A hyperloop system between the two Dutch cities could reduce the trip to a fraction of that time. The one proposed by the team would feature a capsule capable of transporting a small group of passengers through a pressurised aluminium tube at speeds of over 1,000 km/hour. Since it’s not the most picturesque form of travel, the vehicle itself would be outfitted with an entertainment system for each passenger in addition to a series of high-definition display ‘windows’ that offer a simulated 360° view of the surrounding landscape.

Unlike air travel, which often involves delays caused by everything from inclement weather to tedious boarding procedures, hyperloop capsules can be loaded quickly just like an NS train. Passengers are also unlikely to encounter any turbulence while journeying via tube. The system designed by TU Delft’s team would feature an innovative series of magnetic attachments nicknamed ‘guns’ because they resemble firearms. They extend out from the bottom of the vehicle and also contain wheels that carry it until it reaches 30 km / hour. At this speed, it would then begin to levitate and rapidly accelerate.

Since the capsule would float and only contend with minimal air resistance, it could offer passengers a much smoother, safer and likely faster ride than the average airplane. Even better, hyperloop systems like this one would be fairly inexpensive to construct and fuel. Given its minimal energy requirements, the system could be powered entirely by wind or solar energy instead of fossil fuels. By comparison, modern air travel looks downright old-fashioned.

“All the current transportation systems are using a lot of energy by propelling themselves through the wind,” Houter said. “We have seen that the hyperloop is the best solution for this problem. With our unique design and levitation mechanism, we have created a safe, fast and affordable vehicle.”

This is the third article in a series about the Dreamhall. You can read our first article here and the second here.