The Hyperloop (Fifth mode of transportation) –A big career opportunity for Engineers
Today we all are in
an age of astonishing progress in the field of computing with the internet
having reformed the way information is exchanged on a global level. It seems
like every day the electronic chips get smaller and the storage space gets
larger. One would think such changes would have brought about a new age of smart
technology. However for the last so many years in many areas of life, things
don’t seem to have changed all that much and transportation is a mournful
example of this. The roads are still lined with cars, the skies dotted with
airliners. The science fiction stories of decades past foresaw flying cars and
teleporters, but the 21st century has had to settle for Seaways.
Dreams never
die, however, and the fantasy of futuristic transportation is very much alive
right now as exemplified by a concept called the Hyperloop
While it’s
not quite as mind-shattering as a teleporter or as fun as a personal jetpack,
the Hyperloop could revolutionize mass transit, cutting travel times on land
and reducing environmental damage in the process.
What is the
Hyperloop?
The Hyperloop is
a concept proposed by billionaire inventor Elon Musk, CEO of the electric
car company Tesla and aerospace firm SpaceX. It is a reaction to the California High-speed Rail system currently
under development, a bullet train system that Musk feels is lackluster, as it
will be one of the most expensive and slow-moving in the world.
A one way trip
between San Francisco and Los Angeles (about 400 miles, approx 644 km) on the
Hyperloop is projected to take about 35 minutes.
Musk’s Hyperloop
consists of two massive steel tubes stretching between San Francisco and Los
Angeles. Pods carrying passengers would travel through the tubes at speeds
topping out over 700 mph (1127 kmph). For propulsion, magnetic accelerators
will be planted along the length of the tube, propelling the pods forward.
The tubes would house a low pressure environment, surrounding the pod
with a cushion of air that permits the pod to move safely at such high speeds,
like a puck gliding over an air hockey table.
Given the tight
quarters in the tube, pressure buildup in front of the pod could be a problem.
The tube needs a system to keep air from building up in this way. Musk’s
design recommends an air compressor on the front of the pod that will move air
from the front to the tail, keeping it aloft and preventing pressure building
up due to air displacement. A one way trip on the Hyperloop is projected to
take about 35 minutes (for comparison, traveling the same distance by car takes
roughly six hours.)
Why the need?
Conventional
means of transportation (road, water, air, and rail) tend to be some mix of
expensive, slow, and environmentally harmful. Road travel is particularly
problematic, given carbon emissions and the fluctuating price of oil. As
the environmental dangers of energy consumption continue to worsen, mass
transit will be crucial in the years to come.
Rail travel is
relatively energy efficient and offers the most environmentally friendly
option, but is too slow and expensive to be massively adopted. At distances
less than 900 miles, supersonic travel is unfeasible, as most of the journey
would be spent ascending and descending (the slowest parts of a flight.) Given
these issues, the Hyperloop aims to make a cost-effective, high speed
transportation system for use at moderate distances. As an example of the right
type of distance, Musk uses the route from San Francisco to L.A. (a route the
high-speed rail system will also cover). The Hyperloop tubes would
have solar panels installed on the roof, allowing for a clean and
self-powering system.
There are off-course drawbacks. Most notably, moving through a tube at such high speeds
precludes large turns or changes in elevation. As a result, the system is
optimal for straightforward trips across relatively level terrain.
California is,
of course, susceptible to earthquakes, and the Hyperloop design takes this into
account. The tubes would be mounted on a series of pylons spread along the
route, each pylon placed every 100 feet or so. The pylons will allow for slip
due to thermal expansion and earthquakes, ensuring that the tubes will not be
broken by any such movement.
Realistically,
the most important problem in getting any project off the ground is money,
doubly so when talking about a public work. Even if one can produce an
impressive blueprint, there are still issues of public approval, legislation,
regulations, and contractors to worry about. Fortunately, The Hyperloop would
be a cost-saving measure, especially when measured against the corpulent rail
project currently underway. Musk’s white paper for the Hyperloop estimates the
total cost could be kept under six billion dollars. Meanwhile, phase one of the
California high-speed rail project is expected to cost at least $68 billion,
(approx.INR 6800 Crores INR)
The Hyperloop
competition by SpaceX:
The contest was
a way for engineers and companies to get the ball rolling to make the Hyperloop
system a reality.
On January 30,
2016, the SpaceX Hyperloop design competition concluded. More than 100
prototype pod designs were submitted, and 27 teams have won the chance to test
their designs on the SpaceX Hyperloop test track in June 2016. A team of grad
students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) won Best Overall
Design. According to the MIT team, the pod is lightweight and emphasizes speed
and safety, including a fail-safe brake system. Whereas many Hyperloop designs
use air jets to levitate, the MIT design uses two arrays of neodymium magnets
to keep the pod aloft. Additional magnets inside the pod keep it stable as it
races along the track. The power of the prototype was impressive, though it’s
still very far from a commercial product given it currently lacks
space for passengers or even cargo.
In January 2017,
the long-running SpaceX Hyperloop competition wrapped up with “Competition
Weekend I,” in which completed pods raced on the test track. A team from
Delft University in the Netherlands took the top prize.
Although this
particular contest is over, the Hyperloop project is far from finished, as
companies and governments around the world explore the concept. For its part,
SpaceX will be holding another competition in the Summer of 2017, this one focused
entirely on attaining the highest maximum speed.
There’s no
guarantee that anything concrete will come out of the competition, though. The
contest is a way for engineers and companies to exchange knowledge and maybe
get the ball rolling to make the Hyperloop system a reality at some
point down the line. Like a world’s fair expo, it’s a place for visions of
the future to become a little bit clearer.
Recent Developments:
While SpaceX’s
contest was a good showcase for engineering students, the Hyperloop
concept has also garnered interest from businessmen. Startups such as Hyperloop One (formerly
Hyperloop Technologies) and Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HTT) are
working on Hyperloop systems of their own, and what they lack in clever naming
they make up for in ambition. Both companies are building their own test
tracks, and HTT has recently announced a partnership with Oerlikon
Leybold Vacuum, an engineering firm specializing in vacuum technology, and Aecom, an international
corporation providing technical project support. The companies will receive
stock options in exchange for their involvement.
HTT’s
partnership with Oerlikon and Aecom is a massive development. International,
publicly traded companies have deemed the Hyperloop concept solid enough to
invest in. They also bring with them much-needed experience: Oerlikon has been
a leader in vacuum technology since the dawn of the 20th century, while Aecom
has been involved in many high profile engineering projects such as the Cape
Town Stadium. This partnership represents a tremendous vote of confidence
in the Hyperloop, and brings much needed legitimacy to a project that had been,
until recently, a pipe dream.
January 2016
proved to be a big month for Hyperloop progress. HTT applied for a permit to
begin construction on a test track along the I-5 freeway in Quay Valley,
California. Meanwhile, Elon Musk’s SpaceX, progenitor of the Hyperloop idea,
partnered with Aecom to build its own test track in Hawthorne, California.
With three test tracks currently in development, the Golden State is at the
forefront of Hyperloop development.
In March 2016,
HTT announced its intention to build a network of Hyperloop tracks
connecting Vienna, Bratislava, and Budapest, with Slovakia serving as a hub
between the three.
Elsewhere in the
world, other Hyperloop-esque projects appear to be springing up. In
early 2017, the Korea Railroad Research Institute (KRRI) announced
plans for a supersonic train that will travel between Seoul and Busan.
Like Hyperloop pods, this train will travel through low-pressure tubes,
reaching estimated speeds of 620 mph.
It remains
unclear whether commercial Hyperloop systems will ever be widely adopted. As
the global population swells and the environment declines, however, better mass
transit systems will become essential. Leonard Bernstein once claimed that
great endeavors require two things: “a plan, and not quite enough time.” The
plan for the Hyperloop is there, but how much time do we have?
India Connection:
Hyperloop
Transportation Technologies (HTT, the California-based start-up recently
submitted a proposal to link the financial hub of Mumbai and the western India
city of Pune—one that would cut travelling time to around 25 minutes from 3
hours on an Indian Railways commuter line. It is currently awaiting approval
from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government.
HTT's vision of
ticket pricing, or rather lack of it, could be a hit in Asia's third largest
economy. "Depending
on the population density, we could have a business model that allows you to
make money without charging ticket prices. For example, we can sell excess
energy to the grid as well as implement premium services, such as premium advertising,"
Bibop Gresta, HTT chairman and chief operating officer, told CNBC Asia
Speaking on the
sidelines of the Global Entrepreneurship Community conference in Kuala Lumpur,
he said the concept could be implemented in India for certain time slots, if the
project is approved.
"Is a
ticket still a viable way of monetizing users in the 21st century? Probably
not. We are looking to humanize transportation."
As the
brainchild of Musk, who first announced the idea in 2012, it's a concept
straight out of science fiction and has been deemed the "fifth mode of
transportation."
Unlike the
others, HTT utilizes a magnetic technology that allows its capsules to levitate
and move. It is currently in negotiations for 20 projects across the world,
including the U.S., Chile, Botswana, Egypt, the U.A.E, Indonesia, Malaysia,
China, Russia and Australia.
HTT claims its
technology is cheaper to build than regular high-speed trains, which Modi's
government has already been considering nation-wide. In 2017, Indian Railways
is set to begin construction on a bullet train connecting Mumbai to Ahmedabad.
"This can
be the biggest opportunity or the biggest disaster for India … they can either
choose the wrong technology and throw the country into the 19th century or
bring the country into the 22nd century," Gresta exclaimed.
"If you can
move people from city to city at 1,200 (745 miles per hour) to 1,300 kilometers
per hour, you have a system that can reshape society," he explained,
suggesting that as distances shrink, economic productivity could increase as
traffic disappears.
Upgrading
India's creaky mass-transit systems is one of Modi's top priorities.
In late
November, an Indore-Patna express train swerved off the tracks and killed
around 146 people in what was deemed the worst train accident since 2010,
ramping up pressure on Modi to invest in new infrastructure.
Because HTT's
track is electrified, its transport system consumes tiny amounts of energy,
while conventional high-speed rails require a lot of energy that is usually
subsidized by the state. HTT also employs a combination of renewable energies,
including solar, wind, kinetic and for certain climates, geothermal.
"This
combination allows us to produce 20 percent more energy than we consume. We are
like a giant power station that happens to transport people,"
That's an
alluring factor for an Indian government looking to reduce carbon emissions by
33-35 percent within the next 13 years.
New materials
are also being integrated into HTT's designs, including cement that absorbs
carbon dioxide and produces oxygen, vertical gardens around pylons, and a
system that absorbs dew from air and releases water to farmers.
"We're also
looking to embed a desalinization system so you can pick up water from the sea
and clean it. When you have a pipeline and solar panels, you already have
desalinization; you just need heat, which we have plenty of to harvest in the
system."
Everything about
HTT seems disruptive to conventional practices, even its business structures.
"This is a
better model because it doesn't need to play the capitalistic game," he
said. "There's a radical reasoning behind this. It is about contesting the
consumption model that is affecting everything."
India Development:
Hyperloop India:
A step towards bringing Hyperloop in India.
Founded in 2015
by Sibesh Kar, a student of BITS Pilani, Team Hyperloop India is a unique
non-profit think tank consisting of 60+ motivated student volunteers in the
fields of engineering and business, interested in reinventing transportation in
India. In January 2016, our team from BITS was the only fully-funded team from
India to make it to the SpaceX Hyperloop Design Weekend in College Station,
Texas.
Starting small
in Pilani, Hyperloop India has grown to become the largest student-driven
multi-disciplinary team of its kind, constituting of students and faculty from
the top engineering and business schools of the country—namely all three
campuses of BITS Pilani, Indian School of Business and IIM-Ahmedabad. We are
consulting with transportation, logistics, infrastructure and data experts from
organizations like RITES, NITI Aayog & DP World India.
As a primarily
student collaboration, their plan is to leverage their performance in global
incentive prize competitions to create a nationalistic competitive impulse to
bring the Hyperloop to India.
If you check the Hyperloop one website and browse through their career page you can find the
current openings for the following profiles:
- AUTOMATION AND MANUFACTURING ENGINEERING
- AUTONOMOUS CONTROLS
- BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE
- DESIGN ENGINEERING
- ELECTROMAGNETIC SYSTEMS
- HYPERSTRUCTURES
- INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
- MARKETING
- METALWORKS
- OPERATIONS
- POD ENGINEERING
- POWER ELECTRONICS
- PROJECT MANAGEMENT
- SAFETY ENGINEERING
- SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
- SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT
- TEST AND DEVELOPMENT
In the coming future
there will a huge demand all over the globe for the Civil Construction, Mechanical,
Architecture, Structural, Computer & IT, Electrical & Electronics engineers when Hyperloop become the realty. So Stay focused on the
future of transportation and grab the opportunity.
The Hyperloop (Fifth mode of transportation) –A big career opportunity for Engineers
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