"The increasing powers of Steam... will I think one day waft friends together in the course of a few hours." – Sir Walter Scott
In Scotland’s famous Edinburgh Waverley train station, these impactful words written by renowned novelist Sir Walter Scott currently adorn the wall.
They echo the impact steam trains made when they were first introduced in the 19th century, shortly after revolutionising the way we travel forever– or so we thought.
But more than 200 years later, the world has moved forward. The fast-paced lifestyles of the 21st century mean generations of people are accustomed to immediate results, and hours have simply become too long to wait.
With Hyperloop, those hours could potentially become minutes.
Worth the Hype?
On track to be the next great transformation in mass transportation, Hyperloop’s concept is simple: a network of on-demand, electrodynamically levitated pods travelling in evacuated tubes at 95% of the speed of sound. To put this into perspective, if implemented at full-scale worldwide, people could travel from London to Edinburgh in as little as 35 minutes and from Los Angeles to San Diego in less than 13 minutes.
The term 'Hyperloop' was first devised in 2012 by technology entrepreneur and founder of SpaceX, Elon Musk. The company was founded by Musk in 2002 to revolutionise space technology and travel.
Hyperloop is currently generating global interest and investment, with companies such as Virgin Hyperloop One, HTT, and Arrivo founded to build the technology.
In order to boost the development of Hyperloop and encourage student innovation, SpaceX announced the Hyperloop Pod Competition, challenging university teams to design and build the best transport Pod. Two competitions were held in January and August 2017; the first of their kind anywhere in the world.
Introducing Team HYPED
HYPED are a student society at the University of Edinburgh dedicated to accelerating the development of Hyperloop. They strive to advance Hyperloop in every way possible through utilising their expertise in engineering. As of 2017 the team now boasts 100+ members and the popularity of the team is continuing to rise.
Since forming in 2015 the team have experienced huge successes together. HYPED are winners of the Hyperloop One Global Challenge, having proposed a route connecting Edinburgh to London, with a total journey time of 50 minutes.
The first SpaceX competition the team entered was the technical competition, winning the award for Subsystem Technical Excellence. This achievement saw the technical team flying to Texas in January 2016 to showcase designs where judges recognised their ideas for modular capsule design.
Most recently the team qualified and attended the Hyperloop Pod Competition II in California in August 2017 where they were 1 of only 4 European finalists present out of thousands of applicants. The competition was a great platform to showcase their own version of the Hyperloop.
Engineering and science is what drives us from history into the future, and it’s really exciting to be part of that driving force.
Macauley Versey a member of the team proudly states when asked what inspires himself and the team to work on such an ambitious project.
"While Hyperloop is still in its infancy, it’s quite reasonable and viable that something HYPED has been working on, whether it’s something tiny or even something huge, could potentially one day be part of the full-scale Hyperloop system. That would make all of us immensely proud."
Reinforcing our drive to support future engineers, RS are proud sponsors of Team HYPED and are continually supporting their huge efforts in helping to make this concept a reality one day.
“RS has been really fundamental in the development of our pod prototype. By sponsoring our team, we’ve been able to simply order whatever components or products we need through the website, which has been hugely helpful for us.”
Propelling into the future
Reflecting on the impact this new mode of transport could have to people across the globe, Macauley explains:
"If Hyperloop becomes a feasible, worldwide mode of transport, it will change how everyone lives forever. People could potentially live in Edinburgh but work in London – and the impact of that would be phenomenal."
He concludes: "It’s remarkable and inspiring to play a part in delivering a more productive, environmentally conscious and connected society for the future. We’re delighted by our success to date, which is a result of hard work and sleepless nights from the team."
With the right team anything is possible
"One of HYPED’s team quotes is ‘no matter how farfetched the idea, with the right team anything is possible’, and that’s another testament to our society."
"What we’re doing isn’t easy, but as long as you have the right people around you and everyone is driven to get the job done, you can achieve anything."
Team HYPED will be working relentlessly to further develop their pod design in order to qualify for the 2018 competition. Their aim is to push the boundaries of the Hyperloop technology like never before.
The next instalment of the competition will focus on creating a self-propelled pod which can travel at maximum speed. Macauley and the team will be hoping to excel on their recent successes in 2018 and we will be there to support them all of the way.
