The Hyperloop Pod Competition took place on 21 of July 2019 in Los Angeles, bringing together 21 teams from different universities around the world. Student teams were building a prototype vehicle of transportation system of future, sponsored by SpaceX project.
First competition happened in California on the 1.6 km long track. The next competition of 2020 will happen on 10 km track, including a curve part.
Their design depends on the pod track structure. Generally speaking the Hypertube track is designed so participating teams could implement various technologies in their pods design, like wheeled vehicles and levitation rail pods. Currently three pods design ideas are implemented – air-bearing design, magnetic levitation pod and high-speed wheel pod. The pods interior depends on the team idea – passengers transport, industrial cargo, or combined passenger-cargo designs.
Traditionally Huperloop SpaceX competition takes place annually since 2016. During last competition teams were allowed to have they own communication system on board.
The recent competition winners are team from Technical University Munich (TUM Hyperloop), reaching the top speed of 463.5 km/h, second place went to team from Zurich ETH University (Swissloop) who reached top speed of 257.5 km/h, and third place – to the team from Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, who reached the speed of 238.13 km/h. All the rest teams received Innovation Awards.
