Passenger Trains > Elon Musk's Hyperloop Dream Has Its 1st Public Demo (Video)

Elon Musk's Hyperloop Dream Has Its 1st Public DemoFrom NPR News - May 11th, 2016
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/05/11/477645103/elon-musks-hyperloop-dream-is-about-to-have-its-1st-public-demo

Moving right along!  I'm amazed to see something other then a study come to fruition!  Click on link to watch the video clip of the 
test

"Out in the Nevada desert today, the world got a good look at the first public test of the Hyperloop — a concept that could someday
become a new mode of transportation."


As an interesting side note:

"French railways invest in 700mph inter-city 'hyperloop' super-tube train which could make HS2 obsolete"
- Independent; May 4th, 2016:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/french-railways-invest-in-700mph-inter-city-hyperloop-super-tube-train-which-could-make-hs2-obsolete-a7012866.html

"The SNCF, creator of the high-speed train concept, have decided to invest Euros 80m in one of two American companies which are
developing the “hyperloop”, a wheel-less train or capsule projected through a tube with relatively small energy needs."


/Mitch



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/11/16 12:38 by Mgoldman.

There is (at least) one competing company not to be confused with Hyperloop One known as
Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, Inc.

It would appear that Hyperloop One will use a system whereby the carriage travels through
a pressurized tube propelled by a magnetic linear induction motor (think: today's fastest
roller-coaster rides which do not need to be dragged to the top of an arch).  A prop-fan would
inject air underneath the carriage eliminating friction (like an air hockey table).

Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, Inc, on the other hand is proposing a similar system
though the carriage will not only be propelled by magnets, but would also levitate by the same 
means.  No propjet?

Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, Inc.  :
http://hyperlooptransp.com/#!/

PLAYA VISTA, Calif., May 9, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -

"Jumpstartfund's Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, Inc. (HTT) announced today a base technology
of the Hyperloop™ System: passive magnetic levitation, originally developed by Dr. Richard Post and his
team at Lawrence Livermore National Labs (LLNL) as part of the Inductrack system."

189 mph  - it's so passé!  Wouldn't it be great to once again lead vs follow (decades behind?)

/Mitch


 



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 05/11/16 13:26 by Mgoldman.

No doubt this system could be wonderful. The only question is how soon will they be requesting government (taxpayer) funding?

Just tack Hyperloop taxpayer funding onto Tesla tax credit taxpayer funding.

While I think it might take a while to build something we could ride, it sure is interesting and seems to have potential.

Posted from iPhone

Westbound Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> No doubt this system could be wonderful. The only
> question is how soon will they be requesting
> government (taxpayer) funding?

And why not?  Sure beats 79 mph, 110 mph or even
160 mph. Is there any transportation system in the US
that is not subsidized?  As it is, China is already de-
bating the merits of investing in the company itself.

No doubt they'll shortly thereafter "re-invent" the tech-
nology and export it back to us.

/Mitch

Air friction near sea level at these speeds is too much to overcome economically, that is why jets fly up in thin air or why a system like this needs a nearly vacuum tube or a blanket of air that moves with it.
Inquiring minds want to know how much power it takes to move air though a tube this size at nearly 700 MPH...?

Fails to discuss how it handles curves and grades.  Just saying it will be built elevated outside of cities fails to account for the cost of such a right of way and especially building it to tolerance

Also fails to account for safe headways which feeds into practical capacity and thus economics.

How are capsules "turned" at the end of the line?

How is the evacuated pressure of the tubes maintained at the stations?

Are there any intermediate stations or does this fall into endpoint fallacy?

What does a Hyperloop switch look like and how does it work?

railstiesballast Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Air friction near sea level at these speeds is too
> much to overcome economically, that is why jets
> fly up in thin air or why a system like this needs
> a nearly vacuum tube or a blanket of air that
> moves with it.
> Inquiring minds want to know how much power it
> takes to move air though a tube this size at
> nearly 700 MPH...?

How much energy does it take to keep a plastic
puck moving on an air hockey table?  Now picture
that table in a room where the air has been evacu-
ated.

"Hyperloop pioneers counter that their technology will
eventually win out due to lower costs (once a hyperloop
pod is underway it can sustain its speed with very low
energy use) while producing no carbon emissions (a
critical element in global warming).

/Mitch

abyler Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Fails to discuss how it handles curves and grades.
>  Just saying it will be built elevated outside of
> cities fails to account for the cost of such a
> right of way and especially building it to
> tolerance
>
> Also fails to account for safe headways which
> feeds into practical capacity and thus economics.
>
> How are capsules "turned" at the end of the line?
>
> How is the evacuated pressure of the tubes
> maintained at the stations?
>
> Are there any intermediate stations or does this
> fall into endpoint fallacy?
>
> What does a Hyperloop switch look like and how
> does it work?

This was a news story - not the owners manual.

Do you really believe those issues were not evaluated
before they began to move forward?

A Google search will answer most of your questions.

/Mitch

More - plus photos (and a pan shot, too).

USA Today:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2016/05/11/hyperloop-one-debuts-future-tech-nevada-desert/84236120/

"We think we can move cargo by 2019 and passengers by 2021..."
(Sure - optimistic, but recall when the CA HSR, if it ever gets built
and remains HSR, is expected to be finished.)

"It won't be cheap - at $6 billion dollars to build a system that runs
from LA to SF" - Ha, that beats 68 billion dollars for big heavy trains
built by a German company running at speeds 80 mph slower with
less frequency.  And potential to run at speeds 500 mph faster in
the future.

/Mitch

HYPERLOOPY says it all.

The good news is we got the passengers there in 15 minutes.
The bad news is they were all brain dead when they arrived.

NewRiverGeorge Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The good news is we got the passengers there in 15
> minutes.
> The bad news is they were all brain dead when they
> arrived.

That reminds me of something I read in a book about
the Concorde... 

A reporter is claimed to have been invited for a flight
early on in the process and upon return during an
interview with one of the engineers, he states
something along the lines of; "What's the big deal,
it felt like any other flight he had ever taken" to which
the engineer states: "That was the  hard part!"

From the USA Today story:
"...noted that humans in a hyperloop pod wouldn’t feel
the acceleration as it would happen more gradually,
eventually hitting close to 750 mph"


BTW - I am in no way vested in either of these
companies - just a big fan of technology.  I was too
young to remember the Moon shot - I feel that such
leaps in technology should not occur "every other
lifespan", lol.  I see the "Hyperloop" today as some
saw the automobile in the time of horse and carriages.

Faster, cheaper, greener, and American made. What's
the hold up?
.
/Mitch

 

not a new idea by the way: [url=http://​https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swissmetro]​https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swissmetro[/url]

My uncle was in the TV studio in New Mexico where the moon landing footage was shot.
Of course he could not talk about it while he was still alive.

This also reminds me of people who say they have recently received radio station signals from the early days of broadcasting.
I mean that signal took a long time to get back, it must have bounced off of something far, far away.

The very first steam locomotive must have been very traumatic to some people as well.

Just saying.

rosenth Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> not a new idea by the
> way: ​https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swissmetro

1990 - interesting, never knew about that.

But... how about NYC in 1867?  True, not magnetically
levitated nor propelled, it was still a system designed
to be operated in an evacuated tube.  Incidentally, Musk's
system was not initially designed with maglev in mind,
rather, a swoosh of air (air bearings) in a low pressure
tube.

NYC's Beach Pneumatic Transit:
http://www.nycsubway.org/wiki/Beach_Pneumatic_Transit

(Mark - you see, we've been waiting a long time, lol)

/Mitch
 

Mgoldman Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> Do you really believe those issues were not
> evaluated
> before they began to move forward?

Yes.

> A Google search will answer most of your
> questions.

I doubt that very much.  It will probably show a bunch of slick visuals and no real engineering.

Mgoldman Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> "We think we can move cargo by 2019 and passengers
> by 2021..."
> (Sure - optimistic, but recall when the CA HSR, if
> it ever gets built
> and remains HSR, is expected to be finished.)

Totally unrealistic timeline.  The person saying that has no conception of eminent domain infrastructure construction.

> "It won't be cheap - at $6 billion dollars to
> build a system that runs
> from LA to SF" - Ha, that beats 68 billion dollars

Its impossible to go LA to SF for $6 billion.  Its 2 million feet, which would require around 40,000 piers if it was all in the air (which it won't be).  That's just $150,000 per pier + two large 50' tubes + all systems for each pier locations + a pro rata share of terminal and equipment costs.  It must be designed for seismic loading as well in California.

For some perspective, a single Amtrak catenary pole with foundation is around $100,000.

A more realistic number would be $40 billion assuming no tunneling and no major bridges, both of which are false assumptions.

It would also be impossible to follow existing highways or rail lines because at 750 mph, the radius of horizontal and vertical curves that would be within human comfort limits would not be anywhere near what is found on the existing right of ways.

At a minimum safe 6 minute headway (3 mphps safe breaking + 2 minute safety margin), system capacity would be lower than a single hourly train.

The whole thing is preposterous.  Emperor has no clothes.

abyler Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Totally unrealistic timeline.

And yet, I'll bet it will happen before you ever see the
completion of the CA HSR system, which will likley
find itself mixed in with commuter trains running well
under 200 mph.

The devil is in the details, sure.

But, it's smaller, can be built in a cut and fill or
suspended, greener, faster, and possibly, home
grown and home built.

They state the first "American" system will likley
be built elsewhere - though, I can imagine viable
economics of building a line mostly through the
desert between LA and LV.

You otherwise imply the most modern system
possible in the US would be a hybrid with HSR,
err, higher speed rail, running with freight and/ or
commuter trains for a good portion if built.

(Where's our flying cars, lol)

/Mitch
(Beam me up)

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