| Group |
2021-19 |
Status |
completed |
| Title |
Concordia’s Hyperloop Project |
| Supervisor |
Dr. Khorasani |
| Description |
The objective of this Capstone Project is to build and test a prototype of the Elon Musk envisaged Hyperloop vision that is treated as a fifth mode of transportation that sends pods through a partially pressurized tube at very high speeds. The students need to design and test some of the key components of the Musk design, which was outlined in August of 2013. That being said, there are several key differences, which may keep this from truly being a proof-of-concept as to whether or not the Hyperloop will ultimately work. But for as much as we have heard about it, we have had scarcely little to see - until teams of students at the University of Illinois and University of Waterloo had decided to build their very own miniature hyperloop.
For this Capstone Project at Concordia it is expected that a total of 12 students will participate in with 8 or so of the team members from the ECE students and the other 4 or so students from the MIAE students. This will need to be a truly cross-disciplinary kind of a project!
The project at the University of Waterloo had to make changes and simplify the prototype. Specifically, they had to use roller bearings instead of air bearings. It is also expected that the students will use electromagnetic motors as in the Musk Hyperloop concept of operation. Their design was able to propel a miniature pod through the tube at speeds of up to 3 meters per second. If scaled up, that amounts to roughly 160 miles per hour, which is far slower than the 760 mph Musk proposed. A couple of reasons for the discrepancy were provided. Roller bearings are slowed down by friction. Waterloo hyperloop has a vacuum pump to depressurize the tube (cutting down air resistance, allowing pods to travel faster), but it was not tested by the end of the semester. Last, the team is planning on adding additional motors to help speed up the pod.
The links to the two university projects is given below:
https://www.vice.com/en/article/mgbdx4/university-students-made-a-working-model-hyperloop
https://uwaterloo.ca/news/engineering-alumni/waterloo-students-could-make-hyperloop-happen
Transport Canada has recently published in July 2020 a report entitled “Preliminary feasibility of hyperloop technology”, that can be found from the link below:
https://tcdocs.ingeniumcanada.org/sites/default/files/2020-08/Hyperloop%20prelim%20study.pdf
See also a project considered in Alberta potentially worth $7B
https://www.enr.com/articles/49997-alberta-weighs-7b-hyperloop-between-calgary-and-edmonton
and
https://www.vice.com/en/article/gvyevw/its-official-spacex-is-building-elon-musks-hyperloop
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| Student Requirement |
The students are expected to physically construct the Hyperloop prototype and test and demonstrate its operation. Knowledge of control systems, magnetic levitation systems, accelerating a pod gradually through electric propulsion in a low-pressure tube, linear induction motors, power electronics, among others are required. |
| Tools |
Tools: CAD software, power supplies, DC motors, servo motors, Oscilloscope, PCB CNC Machine, and soldering equipment, 3D printing. |
| Number of Students |
8 |
| Students |
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