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Hyperloop One Hits a Milestone: 70 mph and 5.3 Seconds of Magnetic Levitation

posted by n1 on Friday July 14 2017, @09:09AM   Printer-friendly
from the levitating-shopping-carts dept.

MrPlow writes:

Submitted via IRC for AndyTheAbsurd

Hyperloop One claims that its prototype ultra-fast train has completed a first full systems test in a vacuum, reaching a speed of 70 mph. The sled was able to magnetically levitate on the track for 5.3 seconds and “reached nearly 2Gs of acceleration,” according to the company.

The test was conducted privately but Hyperloop One offered some video that included footage from testing. Based on that footage plus a few seconds of additional b-roll shared with media, a lightweight skeleton sled uses a linear motor to accelerate, levitates briefly, and then comes to a halt as the brakes are applied.

Hyperloop One was created as an answer to a challenge from Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who wrote a white paper envisioning a mode of transportation that would send pods at speeds greater than 700mph using a low-friction environment and levitation using air bearings.

Source: Ars Technica

Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 2) by Arik on Friday July 14 2017, @11:54AM

    by Arik (4543) on Friday July 14 2017, @11:54AM (#539075) Journal
    I'm not sure comparing it to the number flying is really the best way to do it, a proportion of all travel including train and highway etc. might be more appropriate, but I did try to find these numbers because I was curious as well. It was harder than expected to find current numbers and I can't call what I came up with anything more than ballpark but it should at least put things in the right scale.

    There was a Brookings report from 2009 that put it at "more than 6 million people" per year, but that sounds like individual people not trips. Some people make a lot of trips. And how much has that changed since 2009? If you assume one trip per person per year and no change you'd 684 -  less than what the 'hyperloop' is supposed to be able to handle, but not by a lot. The real number seems very likely to be significantly higher than that.

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