University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign mechanical engineering students have been working on Hyperloop projects since 2013, when Elon Musk first came out with a white paper detailing futuristic transportation in which pods speed through a tube system at up to 760 mph.
Now they're about to see their work in action.
Illini Hyperloop, the Hyperloop design team from UIUC, will compete this upcoming weekend at the SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition in Hawthorne, Calif. They'll be one of 30 teams to test their human-sized pod on a test track at SpaceX's headquarters January 27 to 29.
While the nascent Hyperloop technology has hit a few bumps since SpaceX kicked off the competition with a Design Weekend last year, including delays in the competition date, controversy over Hyperloop startups, and caution from regulators over implementing the transportation tech, the Illini Hyperloop team is confident it has serious potential. And after this weekend, they hope Illinois engineering will become an integral part of Hyperloop's future. Particularly when it comes to pod speed.
"At the University of Illinois we’re trying to develop a vehicle that is very lightweight so it can accelerate rapidly, and something that will perform well aerodynamically," said Blake Johnson, faculty advisor to the Illini Hyperloop team. “Our goal is speed and speed alone with this vehicle.”
Our goal is speed and speed alone with this vehicle.
Their pod is approximately 7 feet long and 3 feet wide, and weighs less than 150 pounds. The pod will hover through a system of magnetic levitation, which they anticipate should be compatible with SpaceX's track. Johnson said the pod isn't designed to hold humans just yet (no "creature comforts" he said), but instead go as fast as possible. Their goal is 250 mph.
While pods will eventually need to hold humans, speed is also a main focus for SpaceX--already the company announced a second competition, set to be held summer 2017, entirely focused on speed. Johnson said regardless of what happens with this weekend's competition, Illini Hyperloop will be developing their pod for the second competition as well.
Approximately 70 students, all undergraduate, have contributed to Illini Hyperloop's pod including mechanical engineering, computer science, electrical engineering, aerospace engineering majors. While students from freshman to senior are a part of the project, a group of 15 seniors lead the project, said Johnson. It's a registered student organization, and receives funding from the College of Engineering and a number of sponsors.
UIUC students have been working on Hyperloop technology even before SpaceX announced the university-focused competition last year. Professor Carlos Pantano made it a senior design project for mechanical engineering students in 2013, and students previously created a small scale (4-inch diameter) model Hyperloop test track tube. It's provided mechanical engineers training on a real world problem that prepares them for careers in transportation tech, said Johnson (and it seems to be working--the former president of Illini Hyperloop recently took a job at SpaceX).
"We have to maintain a more broad vision for how engineers serve society," said Johnson. "I think projects like this will help us to educate engineers who can serve society in very unique and highly beneficial ways."
While Hyperloop has provided plenty of engineering challenges for students, it also provides a case study on the obstacles any technology faces on route to reality. The Pod Competition was supposed to be held last summer, but SpaceX pushed it back six months to give students more time to get their pods ready for action. One of Hyperloop's most prominent startups, Hyperloop One, was embroiled in a lawsuit for most of 2016 (which was recently settled). And outgoing transportation secretary Anthony Foxx told Recode he's not confident a Hyperloop system will debut in the US, given regulations will have to catch up to technology.
Johnson said this is to be expected, given Hyperloop is an unprecedented mode of transportation. But he did note that Hyperloop technology will only move forward with significant capital, as well as extensive research and development, given the scope of the engineering challenges the new technology holds.
But those challenges are exactly why UIUC students keep working on Hyperloop.
"The Hyperloop is a fascinating concept, and I think there’s potential with the idea to revolutionize transportation," he said. "The University of Illinois, and mechanical engineering in particular, really wants to be at the forefront of developing new types of technologies, especially something of such a transformative nature."
