Future of Transportation
| Today Elon Musk has revealed the plans for the Hyperloop, a so-called "fifth mode" of transportation "after planes, trains, cars and boats." As suspected it is form of tube transport system consisting of of a low pressure tube with capsules that are transported at both low and high speeds throughout the length of the tube. |
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mid an air of mystery and speculation, billionaire Elon Musk has revealed the plans for the Hyperloop, a so-called "fifth mode" of transportation "after planes, trains, cars and boats."The "Hyperloop Alpha," as Musk dubbed the first design, would be a solar-powered, elevated transit system capable of transporting people from Los Angeles to San Francisco in only 30 minutes, according to Musk's interview with Bloomberg Businessweek and a 57-page PDF explaining the Hyperloop on the website for Tesla.
Musk, a co-founder of PayPal and co-founder and current CEO of SpaceX and Tesla Motors, has confirmed that he will not have the time to make the Hyperloop himself, but hopes others will take up the plans or offer improvements and feedback.
During a live conference call following the reveal however, Musk said he will "probably" build a Hyperloop prototype.
"Short of figuring out real teleportation, which would of course be awesome (someone please do this), the only option for super fast travel is to build a tube over or under the ground that contains a special environment," Musk wrote in his proposal, posted online.
According to Musk, the Hyperloop is best used when traveling between cities less than 1,000 miles apart that have considerable traffic on the ground. Travelers would also avoid the long wait times during check-ins, takeoffs and landings necessary for air travel.
Musk told Businessweek that he became inspired to think about re configuring public transit after becoming frustrated of the $70 billion construction of California's high speed rail system, set to begin this summer.
Citing slow speeds, inefficient costs and logistical nightmares involving land rights, Musk began work on the Hyperloop idea, claiming it can be four times faster than the train sytem -- nearly 800 miles per hour -- at one tenth of the cost.
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From now on, Hyperloop is considered an open source transportation concept. The authors of the report encourage all members of the community to contribute to the Hyperloop design process. Iteration of the design by various individuals and groups can help bring Hyperloop from an idea to a reality.
Going forward the need for additional work, includes but is not limited to:
1. More expansion on the control mechanism for Hyperloop capsules, including attitude thruster or control moment gyros.Feedback is welcomed on these or any useful aspects of the Hyperloop design. If you have any ideas, E-mail feedback to hyperloop@spacex.com or hyperloop@teslamotors.com.
2. Detailed station designs with loading and unloading of both passenger and passenger plus vehicle versions of the Hyperloop capsules.
3. Trades comparing the costs and benefits of Hyperloop with more conventional magnetic levitation systems.
4. Sub-scale testing based on a further optimized design to demonstrate the physics of Hyperloop.
Musk says he would support another person or organization that wanted to make the Hyperloop a reality.
“It is a question of finding the right person and team to get behind it,” Musk says. “Creating a prototype is not that expensive.” But if no one advances or acts on Musk’s ideas, he may come back to the Hyperloop in a few years’ time and pursue it as part of Tesla. “Down the road, I might fund or advise on a Hyperloop project, but right now I can’t take my eye off the ball at either SpaceX or Tesla.”
SOURCE Bloomberg Businessweek
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