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Home , AECOM, Hyperloop, Virgin Hyperloop

TR NEWS 314 MARCH–APRIL 2018 15 Photo: Virgin One - - - - This idea 1 In 2014, the hyperloop wasIn an2014, idea, www..com/sites/spacex/files/ ing mode—the hyperloop. captured the imagination many of futurists, technologists, and officials;shortly afterMuskpublished his Virgin paper, Hyperloop One— then called Hyperloop Technologies— was Three founded. years Virgin later, 1 hyperloop_alpha-20130812.pdf. a series obscure of equations sketched a whiteboardon in a garage, unintelli gible to all except rocket for scientists. Elon had Musk recently published “Hyperloop white a paper Alpha,” in which outlined he the technical com ponents new a transpor of mode of tationthat was faster, greener, and more energy-efficient than any exist - - - - rfan Usman, One Senior Levitation Design Engineer, bent over the test rig, adjusting the posed into the offices of a start-up in the Arts District of . turning on the system. A giant machine whirred to life, lifting a heavy piece of metal up to its counterpart component under the force of an unseen power. The piece of metal slid back down again gently and a room full of engineers high the of birth the was cheered—it mag transportation est-performance It did netic levitation system in history. national well-funded a in happen not research lab or in the research depart 500 company, ment of a major Fortune but in an old industrial ice factory repur cables and checking the sensors before I

test track. DevLoop site in Nevada, a 500-m complete system

Virgin Hyperloop One Virgin DIANA ZHOU A Look Inside a New ModeA Look Inside Hyperloop One, Los Angeles, . The author is Market The author is Market Strategy Manager, TRB Annual Meeting 2018 Meeting Annual TRB 16 TR NEWS 314 MARCH–APRIL 2018

Photo: Virgin Hyperloop One compressor infront. the airbearingsand hyperloop pod,with Early renderingofthe headquarters. Virgin HyperloopOne’s Design engineersat rapidly and to learn from early mistakes. mistakes. early from learn to and rapidly parts develop to ability the to key was redesign and testing, building, designing, of rapid principle The designers. the as important as just are tradespeople and builders that recognition the by driven is effort joint This predicted. had math the as worked nents thecompo that sure making specifications, design the to built technicians and welders experienced theory, in worked they that confirmed and nents bar. acoffee by only separated engineers, thecompany’s of design offices the to next located is TheCenter Developmentand office. of Test the layout spatial the in emphasized and join they when engineer each in company, at the ingrained principle design akey practice—is work in how materials understand to process design the in early ponents of com testing development and prototyping—the track. test hyperloop full-system full-scale, world’s the first built One Hyperloop Once the design engineers designed the compo the designed engineers design the Once Rapid time? ashort such in it happen did How

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O H V : P e n p erloo p y n irgi hoto levitation in a —within the autoclave. The The autoclave. the avacuum—within in levitation simulate to used device rig—a alevitation installed and built carefully of engineers team Asmall tion. levita test to environment a near-vacuum create to was autoclave of the purpose however, the case, this In of composites. types other and parts aerospace curing including purposes, of industrial a multitude for used are commonly cooker. Autoclaves pressure agiant to of apiece equipment similar autoclave, an June ordered 2015,In Technologies Hyperloop Testing inaVacuum performance. high have to cient and effi energy be to known are bearings Air friction.” low 1.1 very of Mach with work at to speeds strated demon been have table, hockey air an as principle basic same the use which bearings, “air Musk, to According pod. the levitate to bearings of air usage the was paper Alpha” white “Hyperloop the in posed loop One spent months designing the ultimate mag ultimate the designing months spent loop One Hyper at Virgin Test teams Development and and Power Electronics, Levitation, The years. 30 than for more market on the been has that technology minimal. was environment near-vacuum a in drag aerodynamic improve and pod of the front at the air the reduce to need the bearings, out air With discarded. was system—also hyperloop of the renderings early many in pod of the front at the seen fan compressor—the air The system. One Hyperloop Virgin modern of the design the in shift fundamental a was This levitation. magnetic to bearings air from move to decision the to led quickly test vacuum The Switching Tracks massive. would be requirements high-tolerance such with atrack maintaining and of installing costs the and required, would be nance mainte Heavy out of alignment. fall to track the cause might ahot day For example, factors. other or temperature due to contractions or expansions accountto for it difficult making aligned, perfectly nearly be to needed track the that meant This high. extremely were system entire of the required erances tol dimensional the therefore, small; extremely was pod of the bottom the and structure track shaped tube- the between gap air The nor cost-effective. ­ neither was design paper, this white the in proposed was what to Contrary bearings. air the fuel to vacuum apartial in air compress to needed was of power amount enormous an that apparent tested. and out, built, measured carefully were paper white in Musk’s outlined specifications One critical component of the technology pro technology the of component critical One is a well-known and tested tested and awell-known is levitation Magnetic became It quickly depressing. were results The energy-efficient energy-efficient ------TR NEWS 314 MARCH–APRIL 2018 17

Photo: Virgin Hyperloop One Hyperloop One headquarters. The XP-1 pod at the Nevada site. Test and development and development Test area at the Virgin For example,For the tube track was built smaller As these technology milestones were reached,

tube segments structural and the system’s stability without spending more than necessary steel on or supporting columns. Although the tube was long not toenough allow the pod to reach its full speed of DevLoopmph, 700 ensured that all the components functioned together as theoretically designed—and that ultimately achieving 700-mph speeds be would only a matter distance. of DevLoop design was purposeful and meaningful: to test as as much as could it cheaply and as quickly as possible, and to stress test the integration the of system without overengineering the entire system. than the size required m rather production—3.3 for than4–5 m—but thesmaller size meant that the tube was to stress-test big enough the welds between

V : P O H n irgi hoto e n p erloo p y - - - - -forces hit nearly g Yet despite its achievements,Yet critiques DevLoop of Less than fivemonths achieved later, XP-1 even On July 29, 2017, Phase 2 testing was complete. 2017, On July 29, Rapid prototyping allowed the team to pivot Researchers experimented with different electrical mph, themph, hyperloop design speed, The however. said it would,” “it’s not as not bigas they“it’s said would it saidwould,” it carry and “it can’t be,” passengers.” DevLoop was never meant to carry passengers test or pods 700 at Phase 3 testing DevLoop: at nearly mph. 240 included the as go following: fast doesn’t as “It they system to transition test pods between atmospheric Vir andvacuum conditions. OnDecember 2017, 15, ginHyperloop One seta test-speed record during its company’s history company’s and was testamenta to the team that all it put together in just three years. faster speeds. The company also tested a new airlock of lessof than500 m. Acceleration 1.48—the equivalent going of from zero to 60 mph This s. in 1.85 marked occasion a momentous in the autonomous high-speed propulsion and levitation in a vacuum environment, accelerated from zero to and mph back to zero192 again mph over a distance standard atmospheric pressure. the onlyXP-1, vehicle in the that world can achieve guidance systems, and tons more than steel of 1,100 and concrete. The vacuum pumps reduced the air in the tube pascals, to 100 approximately or 1/1,000 Vegas. DevLoopVegas. the is Loop,” “Development short for first functioninghyperloop system in world, com the withplete power electronics, an pod, autonomous motor control and braking systems, levitation track, In May 2017, Hyperloop One ran its firstIn May 2017, full-system test its on DevLoop system, a 500-m test track in the Nevada desert approximately 40 mi outside Las of designs that ultimately be would scrapped. Full-Scale Testing vast ambitions, was it important to focus the design process. The more focused the process was, the less wasmoney wasted and the less time was spent on quicklyfrom theoreticallya correct impractical but design the a key of for component system that to one performed better in practice. a new start-up For with gap. The teamgap. Virgin at Hyperloop One understood thehow technology worked, needed to make but it better—that is, cheaper and easier to implement. cationswere clear: the system needed to have similar levitation properties as air bearings, with but a higher ride height and a design to tolerate larger variances in to the sophisticated, such as superconductors. currents and various rig configurations. The specifi netic levitation system. The team experimented with different types track, of composed materials of rang ing from the commonplace—steel and aluminum— 18 TR NEWS 314 MARCH–APRIL 2018

design anddevelop. concept forothersto sourced hishyperloop Elon Muskhasopen- rural highwayfatalities. would betodecrease system inColorado the goalsofahyperloop Global Challenge.Among to theHyperloopOne a hyperloopproposal technologies, submitted agency focusedonnew (DOT’s) RoadX,an of Transportation’s Colorado Department

T : P , F , H hoto lickr awk s homa Virgin Hyperloop One moved toward commercial toward moved One Hyperloop Virgin corridor? this along of ahyperloop construction the in hurdles questions: following the were Considered support. political strong and environment, regulatory a favorable case, business acompelling of construction, ease factors: a few world. the around areality systems hyperloop make to come could together sectors private public and how quickly demonstrated results Challenge Global The of transportation. future the discuss to tatives represen private-sector and stakeholders ernment gov major together D.C., Washington, bringing and Netherlands; , ; , in events 2017.September global launched also company The in routes winning ten the announced support—and governmental strong had 20 that ists—including 35 selected semifinal company the these, Of tries. 25 coun from received were Proposals expectations. routes be shouldbuilt. first the where to as stakeholders and customers from back feed gather to Challenge Global One Hyperloop the launched One Hyperloop 2016, May in system Virgin hyperloop’s of propulsion the unveiling the During Global Challenge markets. developing on focusing ization, u on judged based were routes winning ten The exceeded far Challenge Global of the results The

Would there be any technically challenging challenging technically any Would be there ------and truck platooning; the High-Performance Trans High-Performance the platooning; truck and autonomous cars as technologies new such ments imple and evaluates that DOT the within agency new arelatively DOT: Colorado to RoadX, addition in of stakeholders group adiverse included team Hyperloop Mountain Rocky The event. for America Vision One D.C., Washington, Hyperloop to for the traveled team his and Bhatt April, (DOT). In tation of Transpor Department Colorado the by submitted was Bhatt, Shailen Director then-Executive by headed spear applications, impressive most of the One inColorado RoadX together? public stakeholders and private both bringing in corridor? portation trans of anew operations and construction the tify tion of the 1980s,” Bhatt observes. 1980s,” of the tion observes. Bhatt popula for 1960s the the in built 1950s and the in ago. 70 years nearly built asystem from stemming congestion of to Colorado: aremedy state the to could bring hyperloop what in vision a clear saw Theteam AECOM. firm engineering global the and for aerotropolis; development of an potential the project hyperloop the in saw which Airport, tional Interna technologies; new finance to means innovative develops which Enterprise, portation u u u “Colorado’s transportation network was planned planned was network “Colorado’s transportation

Is this an organization that can move quickly quickly move can that organization an this Is support? political sufficient and strong there Is to jus and demand ridership sufficient there Is

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, F , C : P lickr aldwell hobble hoto TR NEWS 314 MARCH–APRIL 2018 19

Photo: camera_obscura, Flickr could ease congestion on highways. Colorado’s Public agencies and private companies collaborated on a proposal to build a hyperloop project along the I-70 corridor in Missouri. According to the Rocky Mountain Hyperloop team, the technology - - - - If these of the outcome studies is favorable, the

project then will move and to a longer more involved environmental impact study or assessment, in which thecorridor and impactsneighboring on communi ties will be examined in greater detail. These studies provide the information required to allow a project sponsor to move forward with a project, to secure sufficient funding privatefrom publicor sources, and obtain approvals to begin construction. Com pared with the permitting, approvals, and regulatory process, developing the technology to create the first new transportationmode of inmore than years100 almost looks easy. Route Forward These feasibility studies—along with several more to be announced in comingmonths—are the begin ning a journey of to make the hyperloop a reality in the . As with any transportation or infrastructure project, carefuland deliberate analy sis the of economics, route environmental impacts, and other factors are required before the project can progress to subsequent phases.

, F , K D : P lickr err g u o hoto ------2 3 magazine. Wired Similar RoadX to Colorado DOT’s program, Mis The proposal envisioned using corridor the I-70 In October, under the umbrella the of RoadX pro “Hyperloop technology directly aligns with our By 1990, Colorado’s population had reached Colorado’s By 1990, 3 www.wired.com/2017/04/cities-crave-hyperloop-shiny-talk- www.codot.gov/news/2017-news/january/cdot-announces- semifinalist. cheap. 3 colorado-selected-as-hyperloop-one-global-challenge- to deliver Missouri proposal DOT’s to the Global Challenge. 2 gies Missouri. for Blair, who leads Tom the program in St. Louis, pulled together a team members of from St. Louis and Kansas City to collaboratively work Black and & Veatch Virgin Hyperloop One. souri Road program DOT’s to Tomorrow assesses new business opportunities in innovative technolo Missouri Hyperloop Coalition announced an agree to move forwardment seven- a on to nine-month feasibility study with the global engineering firm to facilitate between the two largest cities in the state in less than half effectively an hour, creat ing an economic superregion. On January the 30, St. Louis and Kansas City via Columbia along the corridor.I-70 Innovation Centerin Columbia,formed a public– private partnershipcalled the Missouri Hyperloop Coalition to advance a hyperloop project connecting teamsin the Hyperloop One Global Challenge. Missouri the DOT, St. LouisIn October 2017, RegionalChamber, the Kansas City Council, Tech the University Missouri of System, and the Missouri Road to Tomorrow in Missouri Road to Tomorrow Missouri DOT was named the of one finalist Working together, the organizations provided a framework to evaluate, implement, and financenew technologies like the hyperloop. andseveral other transportation agencies in the state to assess potential routes from both a technical fea sibility perspective and a commercial perspective. ical corridors,” notes Bhatt. gram, Hyperloop One embarked a nine-month- on feasibilitylong study with AECOM, Colorado DOT, goals reducing of the cost transporting of goods, of turning rural state highways into zero-death roads, and decreasing of congestion within crit Colorado’s congestion that will Bhatt commented in a come,” recent article in 20 years20 as new residents are drawn to the state for its jobs and famed lifestyle. outdoor build can’t “I themy way of current out congestion, alone let the million;population the is today, million state’s 5.3 and is expected to grow to 8 million over the next