Hyperloop closer to reality with a technology of passive magnetic levitation

Hyperloop idea is the brainchild of Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and Space X, to revolutionize the world of transport and travel. It is a high-speed system described for the first time in 2013 and which provides a capsule inside of a large duct through which compressed air and electromagnets can travel at over 1200 kilometers per hour.

Around the concept is born Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, which collects a number of engineers not only from Tesla and Space X, but also from Boeing and NASA, and that provide the work mostly voluntarily in order to realize the idea of ​​Musk.

HTT announced later in the day yesterday that it has obtained the exclusive license for the use of a technology that can help to bring to reality the transport system theorized by the CEO of Tesla. The technology, which is called passive magnetic levitation, is quite different from initially thought the same Musk system.

The original of Hyperloop idea involved a large low-pressure conduit inside which the capsule remains in suspension thanks to a jet of compressed air ejected from a kind of shoes, and is pushed with the use of electromagnets present in the inner surface of the duct.

The new technology that HTT has licensed will be using a number of magnets placed under the train in a Halbach array, a special provision that allows to concentrate the magnetic field on only one side of the array and cancel it on the opposite side, so that the capsule can levitate on completely passive tracks. Hyperloop posted a video to demonstrate the principle of operation of the system.

The system was invented by Richard Post, who died last year, who has worked for Lawerence Livermore National Laboratories. HTT has partnered with Post and his team of researchers to define the way in which to set up the technology field.

"Use a passive magnetic levitation system eliminates the need to place the power stations along the route, making the system more suited to the practical application and maintains low construction costs. From a security point of view the system has great advantages, levitation occurs exclusively thanks to the movement: should it be any power failure, the capsule continues to levitate and only when it reaches the minimum speed can touch the ground, "explained Bibop Gresta, HTT COO.

HTT has also recently signed an agreement for the construction in California of a test track of 8 km length, which costs about $ 100 million.