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201 MPH Pod Run Wins SpaceX's Second Hyperloop Competition (geekwire.com)
An anonymous reader quotes GeekWire:
The speediest team from SpaceX founder Elon Musk's first Hyperloop pod competition has done it again: WARR Hyperloop from Germany's Technical University of Munich won today's second contest by sending its magnetic-levitation pod through a nearly mile-long test tunnel at a peak speed of 201 mph [video]. Musk announced WARR's victory to a crowd in the stands at SpaceX's headquarters in Hawthorne, California, and in a tweet... This weekend's competition brought about two dozen teams to Hawthorne, including a student group from the University of Washington. Each of the teams developed a pod that was designed to test engineering approaches for Musk's Hyperloop rapid-transit concept, which calls for sending people and cargo through low-pressure tubes at near-supersonic speeds.
Musk also tweeted that it "might be possible to go supersonic" in the 0.8-mile test Hyperloop tube, though he conceded it would require an extremely high acceleration (and deceleration) because of the short distance.
"For passenger transport, this can be spread over 20+ miles, so no spilt drinks."
Musk also tweeted that it "might be possible to go supersonic" in the 0.8-mile test Hyperloop tube, though he conceded it would require an extremely high acceleration (and deceleration) because of the short distance.
"For passenger transport, this can be spread over 20+ miles, so no spilt drinks."
This .. is not an accomplishment. Not yet, anyway. The French TGV cruises at these speeds (320 kmph / 200 mph) since 1988 (and 170 mph since 1978!)
They have a record of 574 kmph / 357 mph in non-commercial speed-run.
And this is on conventional wheels on above ground surface track that really isn't all that different to a normal train track.
When 267mph maglev is already in service in other countries?
Shanghai's maglev does the 430 km/h just for show, 2h30 per day and it loses money continuously. It was made as a political statement. Even if Hyperloop only did 320 km/h, but did so at a low cost (and profitably), you'd have something the the Shanghai maglev doesn't have. I'm not saying it does, but you're comparing apples to oranges.
In non-retard units.
My opinion of the hyperloop concept is based mostly on this critique by "thunderf00t" (youtube link):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
I think wilful ignorance and blind optimism fuels these things. Maybe they're a good thing, in that they show the general public why engineers "can't just" do this or that. Think of the history of the Concorde - that was actually quite simple from an engineering standpoint, yet it was a long way off from being practical, even decades later.
The energy cost of maintaining a near-vacuum in very large containers, such as hundreds or thousand of kilometers of tube, and keeping magnets cold enough to be superconducting over such a distance is not to be underestimated.
It really puzzles me that a website geared towards engineers, scientists and other nerds from across the world would use imperial units in such a news article.
This was a bunch of students doing this for a project, and it reached that speed on a 1.7 km test track. With a longer track and more budget, they expect to go supersonic eventually. This is nowhere near a finished product, so don't compare it to one.
Why is everyone so pessimistic about everything Musk does? Even here on a supposed nerd site? Jeez, I know the guy uses a lot of hyperbole and has impossible ideas like, say, landing rockets on barges (o, wait, that actually worked) or making usable electric family cars that outperform two seat supercar monsters (o wait, he did that too). Maybe just see where this idea goes? We need more people like him, billionaires that are not afraid to push boundaries and try new things that may well fail but might just make a huge difference in the world, instead of just buying big yachts. I know he's crazy. That's what makes all the difference in this world of paralysing risk averseness.
When 267mph maglev is already in service in other countries?
Let's face it, there is no innovation in Hyperloop. It's just vaporware.
Elon didn't invent maglev technology, the electric car, or the solar panel. Apple didn't invent the portable music player either. These companies are known for innovating by taking designs to the next level. When it comes to high-speed transit, the innovative part would be delivering a product before the generation who needs to use it dies, and perhaps deliver a profitable design.
And how fast did the very first maglev prototype go? I bet it wasn't 430km/h.
No sig today...
Exactly right, the negative attitude has always surprised me in respect to Musk, who at least is pushing the boudaries of technology.
On a tech nerd site, its rather ironic. If we had listened to all the negative Nellys in the past, we would still be arguing over what colour the wheel should be. To the B ark with them.
And they leave a lot of U's out of words. Sad.
Why is everyone so pessimistic about everything Musk does? Even here on a supposed nerd site? Jeez,
It's not just Musk, it's anything outside the comfort zone or cutting edge technology. Slashdot is very different than it was when it was new. I think the average age of user on here is much older than it used to be.
We have old jaded engineers, IT staff, etc, as the majority of visitors now. Anything that wasn't possible to do with tech when they were in school must therefore always be impossible. Because one or two technologies didn't take off as quickly as expected... no technology will.
This is a much more pessimistic place than it was 10+ years ago.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch