Communications of the ACM
Hyperloop One Completes First Full Systems Test
DevLoop tube installation in the North Las Vegas desert.
Credit: Hyperloop One
Hyperloop One announced the successful completion of the world's first full systems Hyperloop test in a vacuum environment. This test was Phase 1 of a multi-Phase program and was privately conducted on May 12, 2017 at the company's DevLoop test track in the Nevada Desert. The vehicle coasted above the first portion of the track for 5.3 seconds using magnetic levitation and reached nearly 2Gs of acceleration, while achieving the Phase 1 target speed of 70 mph. The company is now entering the next campaign of testing, which will target speeds of 250 mph.
"Hyperloop One has accomplished what no one has done before by successfully testing the first full scale Hyperloop system. By achieving full vacuum, we essentially invented our own sky in a tube, as if you're flying at 200,000 feet in the air," says Shervin Pishevar, co-founder and executive chairman of Hyperloop One. "For the first time in over 100 years, a new mode of transportation has been introduced. Hyperloop is real, and it's here now."
In this test, Hyperloop One tested all the system's components, including its highly efficient motor, vehicle suspension, magnetic levitation, electromagnetic braking, vacuum pumping system, and more, proving the full system's components operate successfully as a single integrated unit in a vacuum. Nearly 200 engineers, fabricators, welders, etc. dedicated thousands of hours to make the test successful.
In addition to announcing the private test, Hyperloop One also unveiled the prototype of its Pod that will work within the integrated system. Using electromagnetic propulsion and magnetic levitation, the Pod will transport passengers and cargo inside the tube. Hyperloop One's Pod is the only vehicle in the world that, with the company's proprietary linear electric motor, achieves autonomous high-speed propulsion and levitation in a controlled low-pressure environment. Made of structural aluminum and a lightweight carbon fiber, the shell measures 28 feet long.
Hyperloop One will continue to run tests at DevLoop in the coming months to validate its next-generation components and software. The next phase of testing will showcase the Pod gliding along a longer track at faster speeds.
"Our team is the only team that is actually making Hyperloop happen, and we've spent more time testing a Hyperloop system than anyone in the world," says Josh Giegel, co-founder and president of engineering of Hyperloop One. "To make Hyperloop a reality, we built and tested the actual hardware, gathering valuable insight along the way. Now that we've tested our Hyperloop system, we know it works, and we're ready to deploy it to the rest of the world."
"Hyperloop One will move people and things faster than at any other time in the world," says Pishevar. "With Hyperloop One, the world will be cleaner, safer, and faster. It's going to make the world a lot more efficient and will impact the ways our cities work, where we live, and where we work. We'll be able to move between cities as if cities themselves are metro stops."
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