Elon Musk is changing to way we think about travel not only into space, but here on Earth as well. Musk’s idea for the super-fast and efficient Hyperloop transportation system has inspired students at University of Illinois to make a fully functional scale version of the Hyperloop design, making the concept one step closer to being no longer just a concept, but a fully functional mode of transportation and a part of our everyday lives.
Hyperloop is more than just a science project, it will change the way we travel
The Hyperloop design works in part by reducing the friction that various other forms of transportation experience, and thus increasing the speed at which it is capable of travelling. This has be theorized to eventually be accomplished by train like cars hovering over magnets, which will be transporting passengers in vacuum like tubes with reduced or airless tunnel systems in order to almost completely reduce friction, and reach speeds as high as 760 miles per hour. There is some debate over the cost effectiveness of the Hyperloop design, but Musk estimates that a track running from San Francisco to Los Angeles would cost around 7.5 Billion to implement.
University of Illinois’ Hyperloop agenda
Since Musk announced that he would not have the time to pursue the Hyperloop project, he has a created a competition in which teams are competing to design the best possible prototype design of the futuristic transport.
A senior design team from the University of Illinois took it upon themselves to attempt the ambitious effort, and building on the work of their senior predecessors successfully completed a 1:24 functional scale model of the Hyperloop.
University of Illinois’ ongoing project is offered to senior level students interested in having the opportunity to eventually build a prototype to test at the SpaceX Hyperloop testing facility in California. Thanks to the team of students at University of Illinois, the incredibly innovative Hyperloop transportation system is one step closer to moving us where we need to go everyday safer, and faster than we have ever been moved before.
