Elon Musk has conquered the Internet, renewable energy and outer space. On Aug. 12, 2013, he set his sight on high-speed transportation. Nova Track, a team of Prescott Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University students, has signed up to help Musk make that a reality, thanks in part to a recent $2,500 Eagle Prize from the Undergraduate Research Institute (URI).
Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) is sponsoring a competition to design and build a 14-foot half-scale Hyperloop pod to test in a functional Hyperloop prototype that solves the design and safety challenges related to high-speed travel in a closed-tube, space-like system at .001 atmospheres. The pod is projected to reach top speeds of 700 mph and will need safe mechanisms to propel and stop it.
Musk’s August 12, 2013 blog details his vision, “If we are to make a massive investment in a new transportation system, then the return should by rights be equally massive…It should ideally be: safer, faster, lower cost, more convenient, immune to weather, sustainably self-powering, resistant to earthquakes, and not disruptive to those along the route. Is there truly a new mode of transport – a fifth mode after planes, trains, cars and boats – that meets those criteria and is practical to implement?”
“Yes, a new mode is possible,” said Max Starkel, team lead and senior in Aerospace Engineering. “But there are a significant number of problems that must be solved first. This challenge is pushing the limits of what we know about magnetic propulsion, compression ratios and software. We have to develop new technology plus adapt current technology and use it in a way that’s never been done before.”
Eli Olson, original founder of Nova Track and junior in Aerospace Engineering, explained that the 11-member group includes Aerospace, Electrical, Mechanical and Software Engineers, plus an Industrial Psychology and Safety student. Their individual areas of expertise are the perfect combination for this project.
The pod uses electromagnetism for propulsion, which is presently being tested in Japan’s Shinkansen bullet trains. Magnetic levitation, or maglev, allows the trains to hover while traveling; thus, reducing friction to zero. Not only will maglev technology produce high speeds but it is the safest propulsion option for the Hyperloop closed-system environment and passenger scenario.
Tube specifications were recently released from SpaceX, moving the team from research and literature review to the initial design phase where they are tackling the problems of starting and stopping, among others.
“Now we can design in earnest,” said Starkel. “I am not going to reveal our design but I can say that the limitations and restrictions from SpaceX [are] sparking a lot of passionate conversations. We are all learning valuable lessons about choices and compromise, and especially about budget within a project of this magnitude. This is a real design, a big design. It’s way beyond theoretical and it’s exciting. ”
The Hyperloop team received an official invitation to the 2016 Design Weekend in Texas where, according to the website, “the best and brightest engineering minds from around the country and globe” will converge.
By Bryan Dougherty
Leave a Reply