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Below is a transcript of the video.
Storyteller: This is the future of high-speed transportation. It’s 3 1/2 times faster than Japan’s Shinkansen bullet trains and even faster than a Boeing 747. It’s a hyperloop: magnetic capsules that levitate inside a tube at over 1,000 kilometers per hour. In theory, you could get from Los Angeles to San Francisco in just 45 minutes with tickets under $ 100 each way. This technology could make working and living in two different cities the norm, while creating a world with less congestion and pollution.
Sarah Luchian: Court!
Josh Giegel: Yes!
Storyteller: And with a successful human trial trip in November 2020, we could be less than 10 years away from becoming a reality. The Hyperloop concept became very popular in 2013 thanks to Elon Musk’s 58-page “Hyperloop Alpha” article outlining the concept’s design, cost, and safety. But the technology for putting everything together commercially has only recently been perfected, namely magnetic levitation or maglev.
Maglev is basically what allows a hyperloop to go incredibly fast, thanks to the lack of friction between the passenger transport pods and the tube-shaped track. The general concept is simple. Magnets lining the bottom of the capsule repel the material in the tube, levitating the capsule as it runs.
Giegel: As an engineer, I am always very excited to talk about magnetic levitation, electromagnetic propulsion.
Storyteller: That’s Josh, a mechanical engineer who previously worked at SpaceX. He is now a co-founder and CTO of Virgin Hyperloop. And this is Chuck. He is the lead engineer for a different Hyperloop company, Hyperloop Transportation Technologies. Both are currently developing the best combination of magnets to create the smoothest ride possible, using passive or active maglev.
The passive maglev uses permanent magnets in a specific configuration to create a constant magnetic current that levitates the capsule, similar to magnets you might have played with as a child. The active maglev uses a combination of permanent magnets and electromagnets, the latter that can manipulate electrical current and the strength of that current.
Giegel: Basically if I get too close I drive it in one direction. If I go too far, I add some force. And then you can think of it as a balance. So if there are bumps on the track, if there are all of this, I have a system that basically uses an active control system to make the ride smooth.
Storyteller: And while you might think this sounds similar to existing maglev trains, the hyperloop concept does away with a key element holding back many trains and planes: air resistance.
Giegel: So if you ever put your hand out of a window when driving a car, imagine if there really is no air there. You wouldn’t really feel that force pushing your hand back. And the same can be said for Hyperloop.
Storyteller: This is where vacuum pumps come in handy. Both companies are installing pumps along the tube. For HyperloopTT …
Chuck Michael: The vacuum pumps in our case are developed by Leybold, who invented vacuum pumps about 150 years ago. So they have a lot of experience.
Storyteller: These pumps, located every 10 kilometers, would theoretically suck 99.9% of the air between the capsule and the tube. Eliminating air entrainment could mean a difference of about 500 miles per hour.
Miguel: Theoretically, you could go even faster than the speed of sound, but that’s playing around with some fun things we’ll do later.
Storyteller: However, it will take a little longer before we get supersonic. First, companies have to prove that the technology is safe, which is why this scene is so important.
Luchian: Woohoo!
Giegel: Yes!
Luchian: I flew!
Giegel: Yes! [both laughing]
Luchian: That was so good!
Giegel: That was amazing!
Storyteller: In November 2020, Josh and Sara from Virgin Hyperloop became the first people to ride a hyperloop. The two-seat prototype hyperloop traveled 500 meters, reaching 172 kilometers per hour in 6.25 seconds.
Giegel: You felt a bit forced to back up in your seat. You couldn’t really even notice the levitation. Like, you didn’t realize it was picked up. But what he did notice is that there was no such jolt. The camera didn’t do it justice, because the camera was bouncing a little more than us. And it was a little more like a cushion or, like, a padded kind of feeling. You could process everything that was happening around you. You’re basically browsing, and you’re floating on an idea that was nothing more than something on a piece of paper not long ago.
Storyteller: While the trip proved its safety, the company wants to work more on the experience. And the actual hyperloop will be much larger, too, seating 28 or more passengers with the capacity to move 30,000 passengers per hour. But to get to this point, both companies will have to run more tests.
Miguel: A lot has to happen between now and then. Building the hyperloop, the route is one thing. Integration with the stations is another, and that requires an alliance with the communities.
Storyteller: And HyperloopTT is currently in the process of building and testing a full-size project in Abu Dhabi. Its first potential project in the United States will stretch from Chicago to Cleveland. Virgin Hyperloop will build its new certification testing facility in West Virginia in 2022, including a 9,600-meter runway that will be used for testing and establishing safety and regulatory guidelines.
Giegel: Around 2025, we intend to certify a fleet of vehicles, of 28 passenger vehicles.
Storyteller: Virgin Hyperloop has plans in Dubai, India and more, with state plans for the Midwest, North Carolina and Texas. But both US projects won’t be complete until around 2030. Which may seem like a long time, but it took about 16 years for the planes to actually get up and running, and the first high-speed train in Japan took at least a decade. . developmental. So 15 years for a hyperloop doesn’t seem that far off. After all…
Giegel: How can we be a country of the 22nd century when we draw on the technology of the 19th and 20th centuries? A single Hyperloop lane can handle more than 30,000 passengers per hour. What are you going to invest in? What should you invest in that allows you to obtain the future demand, the future needs that you have? A change is possible if we choose to embrace it.
