Hyperloop or Fruitloop?

[GadgeS3C]

On first reading of the BBC article on this I thought it was more journalism of the "how an F1 engine works" standard

But reading more of the detail in this it does look like it's been thought through a fair bit. Elon Musk does have some credibility too.

Should we be replacing HS2 with a tube?

[zcacogp]

Hmmm. It's interesting, for sure. Sounds too good to be true - long-distance, very high speed transport that is nearly self-sufficient in terms of energy and is cheap to build due to low land requirements. I'm sure there is a catch in there somewhere, but I can't see it (yet).

When someone makes a working model to prove the concept then things could get more interesting.


Oli.

[plasticpig]

Looks much like how a pipeline pig works in gas piping.

[0000]

I wouldn't bet against Musk.

[anonymous-user]

Not sure about the "compressor" on the front bit? After all, a plane is just pushing air out of the way (and less air by mass that it could be because it flies at altitude) and that takes some quite large "compressors" generally slung under the wings to do so...............

[Krikkit]

It's a solid concept, but it's a long way from a usable transport system yet.

The pressure levels in the tube should make the compressor able to power the craft, along with boosting stations as you go down the tunnel, but the comparison to an aircraft is a valid thought. However, you're expecting a compressor to power a lightweight (I'm presuming carbon and other lightweight composites will feature highly) craft that carries 10-20 people at a time, much less than what a jet engine powers.

Hopefully someone will seize the idea and get building one, sharpish.

[zcacogp]

Krikkit said:

... the comparison to an aircraft is a valid thought. However, you're expecting a compressor to power a lightweight (I'm presuming carbon and other lightweight composites will feature highly) craft that carries 10-20 people at a time, much less than what a jet engine powers.

I am also guessing that the pods will be much easier to push through the air than an aeroplane as the frontal area will be significantly much smaller.


Oli.

[motco]

Reminds me of this Lamson Tube

[maffski]

0000 said:

I wouldn't bet against Musk.

He might be the new Tesla. The Register had a story about John Carmack and Armadillo Aerospace the other week, and he mentioned Musk:

John Carmack said:

A couple of weeks ago I was trading some emails with Elon Musk from SpaceX, and I was saying I'm excited about these virtual reality things and other stuff, and he kind of hits me with this 'if it's not on the path of colonizing Mars or making the money to fund colonizing Mars, then it's just not that important.' He's making me feel guilty for not thinking on an planetary scale. Elon is serious about all that stuff.

[Simpo Two]

'The SpaceX, Tesla and PayPal founder envisions using magnets and fans to shoot capsules floating on a cushion of air through a long tube.'

Eric Laithwaite's linear motor... http://rense.com/general42/genius.htm

[durbster]

Exciting idea that seems to be holding up quite well so far.

One thing bugging me - in what way is it a "loop"?

[maffski]

durbster said:

Exciting idea that seems to be holding up quite well so far.

One thing bugging me - in what way is it a "loop"?

The tube is a loop between the two stations - rather than two separate tubes, the stations the branch off the ends via an airlock. I presume this is so that if there is a problem that closes one station capsules loop round back to the the other - stopping the capsules and leaving on foot would mean shutting the entire system down and having to open it to atmospheric pressure, you'd only want to do that in the worst emergencies.

Wonder if we can get them to replace HS2 with a hyperloop? Not much in the way of earthquakes here, so it should be even easier....

[RealSquirrels]

maffski said:

0000 said:

I wouldn't bet against Musk.

He might be the new Tesla. The Register had a story about John Carmack and Armadillo Aerospace the other week, and he mentioned Musk:

John Carmack said:

A couple of weeks ago I was trading some emails with Elon Musk from SpaceX, and I was saying I'm excited about these virtual reality things and other stuff, and he kind of hits me with this 'if it's not on the path of colonizing Mars or making the money to fund colonizing Mars, then it's just not that important.' He's making me feel guilty for not thinking on an planetary scale. Elon is serious about all that stuff.

interesting...

sooo, will we see musk build the first space elevator then?

[cerbfan]

We really should, it would be the sort of thing that puts us back at the forefront of the world in terms of Engineering and Transport which we used to be at 100 years ago instead of playing catch up all the time like we seem to do nowadays.

[motco]

Simpo Two said:

'The SpaceX, Tesla and PayPal founder envisions using magnets and fans to shoot capsules floating on a cushion of air through a long tube.'

Eric Laithwaite's linear motor... http://rense.com/general42/genius.htm

Poor old Eric - way ahead of his time, it seems. I recall watching him on Tomorrow's World with his incredible enthusiasm for the subject.

[annodomini2]

maffski said:

durbster said:

Exciting idea that seems to be holding up quite well so far.

One thing bugging me - in what way is it a "loop"?

The tube is a loop between the two stations - rather than two separate tubes, the stations the branch off the ends via an airlock. I presume this is so that if there is a problem that closes one station capsules loop round back to the the other - stopping the capsules and leaving on foot would mean shutting the entire system down and having to open it to atmospheric pressure, you'd only want to do that in the worst emergencies.

Wonder if we can get them to replace HS2 with a hyperloop? Not much in the way of earthquakes here, so it should be even easier....

Would (conceptually) be less of a waste of money at least.

[annodomini2]

maffski said:

durbster said:

Exciting idea that seems to be holding up quite well so far.

One thing bugging me - in what way is it a "loop"?

The tube is a loop between the two stations - rather than two separate tubes, the stations the branch off the ends via an airlock. I presume this is so that if there is a problem that closes one station capsules loop round back to the the other - stopping the capsules and leaving on foot would mean shutting the entire system down and having to open it to atmospheric pressure, you'd only want to do that in the worst emergencies.

Wonder if we can get them to replace HS2 with a hyperloop? Not much in the way of earthquakes here, so it should be even easier....

There are 2 tubes if you've seen the detailed PDF he released (don't have a link to hand).

The main issue I foresee with this is one of safety, the 'capsule' is prevent from hitting the sides of the tube using a cushion of air on all sides (due to a combination of velocity and aerodynamics), the fan is there to maintain velocity, so when the fan system fails it's not obvious how you would safely deal with that failure mode.