SpaceX, a renowned space exploration firm, has been spearheading the modes of transportation to be used in the future inside as well as outside of the earth¡¯s atmosphere. One such concept by the company comes as the hyperloop. To support the development of functional prototypes, the firm holds a global annual competition called Hyperloop Pod Competition. The exciting part? This year, a team from India has made its way to the finals.
The competition saw a total of 1500 teams participating to create a ¡°pod¡± or the travelling vessel for the hyperloop concept. The goal is simple, your pod should attain maximum speed and should correspondingly have comparative deceleration. No other criteria is put up in order to not put a limit on the creativity of the participants.
In this year¡¯s competition, Team Avishkar Hyperloop from India has reached the list of top 21 teams shortlisted to be the finalists. As one of the finalists, the team will be visiting the SpaceX facility in California in July to test their version of the pod on the Hyperloop tunnel.
Team Avishkar Hyperloop (Image: Facebook)
Also read:?CycleLoop ¨C India¡¯s Own Eco Friendly And Healthier Version Of The HyperLoop
A team of 30 members, all hailing from various departments of IIT Madras, Avishkar Hyperloop is the only team from Asia to reach the finals. For their finals, the team has decided to use a linear-induction motor built by them on an electric powertrain. The system will be backed by a high-power battery pack and the team aims to achieve speeds of over 400 kmph with it. As for the deceleration part, the team is planning on using pneumatic brakes.
The pod developed by the team runs on four wheels on a single race track. To counter instability that might result out of a single track use, the team has also equipped the system with a stabilisation mechanism. At the finals, the team will have to demonstrate a run of the pod within a 1 mile long vacuumed?Hyperloop tunnel and successfully decelerate it within the length.
For this, all the finalists will be allowed to test their implementation to make final refinements a week prior to the finals.
Interestingly, most of the other teams are returning finalists in the competition while the team from India has made it for the first time. The total budget of the team for the competition has come close to Rs 1 crore, raised mostly through in-house funding, alumni, tech companies and crowdfunding.
As the competition draws closer, we wish the team all the best for their finals.