For those who don’t know, today was Hyperloop Day!
@swisspod’s annual update on their progress in building the world’s largest hyperloop R&D facility, in Pueblo, Colorado.
A lot of progress has been made since last year. The test track continues to grow, and is now approximately 500 meters long, about a third of the final length. When it’s all built, it will be a peanut-shaped loop about a mile in circumference. That will enable them to test the hyperloop concept at half scale, and the data from those tests can be applied someday to a full-scale hyperloop.
Today they also unveiled their Aerys-1 vehicle, which they’ll use to test the levitation and propulsion systems. Swisspod has an innovative design, which allows for a passive track, bringing all the electronics onto the self-contained vehicle, which makes the infrastructure much cheaper to build.
During the event today, they did a test run of the Aerys-1. Because the track isn’t yet a full loop, the test was quick (so the vehicle wouldn’t fly out the other end of the tube!), but they achieved a speed of 65 miles per hour over that short distance.
When the track is fully built, and they can run continuous loops, they plan to test at a speed of 300 mph. The operational goal of a full scale hyperloop is 600 mph. I assume the curvature of the test track is what limits the speed to 300 mph, but that should be more than fast enough to study things like thermal management, power consumption, battery life, acceleration, stability, vibrations, etc. These tests will generate real-world data and serve as a proof of concept.
On a personal note, Denis
@denetudor is a close friend, really a brother, and one of my favorite people. We met working together on rLoop, in the SpaceX competition a decade ago. It’s been so cool and inspiring to see how far he and his team have come with hyperloop.
Also, I’m glad that
@technolawgist could be there this year too! He’s my uncle (though Denis and I both call him Uncle Art) and he’s been a lifelong role model, especially when it comes to engineering and philosophy.