07.04.2017 change 07.04.2017

Polish students want to build an ultra-fast Hyperloop capsule prototype

Polish students from the team Hyper Poland want to build a prototype Hyperloop capsule, which would allow to travel the distance from Gdańsk to Zakopane in 43 minutes. They need support from Internet users to carry out their project.

Hyperloop is a new means of transport, a combination of train and airplane, allowing to transport people or goods at very high speed. It would cut the time of travel from Gdańsk to Zakopane to 43 minutes, and from Wrocław to Warsaw to 23 minutes. According to assumptions, the capsule with passengers or cargo would move in a special tube without contact with the ground, using magnetic levitation and air bearings.

Engineers all over the world are working on such capsules. Among them is the Hyper Poland University Team, consisting of 25 engineers from Warsaw University of Technology and Wroclaw University of Technology. "The shape of the capsule we have designed resembles today\'s high-speed trains. Driven by electric motors it can move on wheels and at higher speeds - with magnetic levitation. The design speed for which all components are calculated is 430 km/h. The target vehicle could travel at speeds up to 1200 km/h" - report the capsule designers.

Thanks to the use of materials used in the aerospace industry such as aluminium alloys, magnesium alloys and carbon composites, the structure is very light and durable. For safety, two independent braking systems are available. In addition, electronic system monitors the vehicle during travel and automatically triggers emergency safety procedures as required.

The first concept of the vehicle was developed in 2015 at the Faculty of Power and Aeronautical Engineering under the supervision of Prof. Janusz Piechna and in cooperation with Wroclaw University of Technology. Hyper Poland team advanced to the second stage of the SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition organized by Elon Musk. In 2016, experts from other industries joined the team and now more than 40 people are involved in the project.

Hyper Poland is also one of the 35 semi-finalists (selected from 2,6,000 submissions from around the world) of the Global Challenge, the competition organized by the American company Hyperloop One. "The proposed Hyperloop route in Poland was recognized as an area of interest in January 2017" - inform the designers of the capsule.

After 1.5 years of conceptual work, Warsaw University of Technology students are ready to build the first prototype of the Hyperloop capsule. To build it, however, they need financial support from Internet users. At one of the crowdfounding sites they have just over 20 days to raise 150,000 zlotys. For this amount they can build a basic version of the capsule without the drive. If they raise 220 thousand zlotys - their capsule will have an drive, and if they raise 310 thousand zlotys - they will build a fully functional prototype with levitation system and advanced electronics.

For the moment, the project account is over 6 thousand zlotys.

"Travelling is now a necessity and a vital part of our lives, making our travel patterns more complex and individualized. We spend more and more time travelling, and with Hyperloop in one decade we can gain the most desirable commodity in our day and age: time" - argue the project authors.

Those who want to support the project, can find all relevant information at: https://odpalprojekt.pl/projekty/pokaz/768,hyper-poland---jedz-z-nami-z-predkoscia-dzwieku. Supporters will receive: cups, shirts, carbon fibre wallets, key organizer, meetings with the team, capsule model printed in 3D, and the opportunity to place a logo on the Hyperloop capsule.

PAP - Science and Scholarship in Poland

ekr/ zan/ kap/

tr. RL

Przed dodaniem komentarza prosimy o zapoznanie z Regulaminem forum serwisu Nauka w Polsce.

Copyright © Foundation PAP 2024