Hyperloop Alpha [pdf]

#1

Post by soupboy » Mon, Aug 12, 2013, 8:42 PM UTC

Re: Hyperloop Alpha [pdf]

#2

Post by zeckalpha » Mon, Aug 12, 2013, 8:43 PM UTC

Nice font. But looks good so far.

EDIT: There's a bit of minimally technical details, but this is neither highly polished (public-perception-focused) nor highly technical (engineer-focused). Is it a good balance or would one of the extremes have been better?

Re: Hyperloop Alpha [pdf]

#3

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Aug 12, 2013, 8:57 PM UTC

[deleted]

Re: Hyperloop Alpha [pdf]

#4

Post by keiferski » Mon, Aug 12, 2013, 8:58 PM UTC

zeckalpha wrote: post #2

Nice font. But looks good so far. EDIT: There's a bit of minimally technical details, but this is neither highly polished (public-perception-focused) nor highly technical (engineer-focused). Is it a good balance or would one of the extremes have been better?

It says right at the beginning that the first section is an overview while the second section is more technical...

Re: Hyperloop Alpha [pdf]

#5

Post by qrohlf » Mon, Aug 12, 2013, 9:00 PM UTC

zeckalpha wrote: post #2

Nice font. But looks good so far. EDIT: There's a bit of minimally technical details, but this is neither highly polished (public-perception-focused) nor highly technical (engineer-focused). Is it a good balance or would one of the extremes have been better?

Both would have been ideal - Ideally the webpage would have been a public-perception-focused with simple explanations (syringes with compressors!) and the concept sketches front-and-center, with a link for a more technically oriented whitepaper. That would have taken a lot more time though - the linked pdf is still impressive.

Re: Hyperloop Alpha [pdf]

#6

Post by jessaustin » Mon, Aug 12, 2013, 9:03 PM UTC

Claustrophobes will not be eager to travel in this fashion.

Re: Hyperloop Alpha [pdf]

#7

Post by nakedrobot2 » Mon, Aug 12, 2013, 9:03 PM UTC

This could be considered a "next generation train". Elon Musk as we know likes to consider things from "first principles". It looks like here, he has taken the first principles of high-speed "rail" travel on land, and come up with this.

I think our children might enjoy using it ;-)

Re: Hyperloop Alpha [pdf]

#8

Post by Mindless2112 » Mon, Aug 12, 2013, 9:03 PM UTC

Strange PDF title -- "Falcon 9v1.1 - Reentry Nozzle Study" -- is there some design reuse or just document reuse?

Re: Hyperloop Alpha [pdf]

#9

Post by nakedrobot2 » Mon, Aug 12, 2013, 9:03 PM UTC

jessaustin wrote: post #6

Claustrophobes will not be eager to travel in this fashion.

Travelling in any kind of tunnel is no more claustrophobic than this is it?

Re: Hyperloop Alpha [pdf]

#10

Post by darkmighty » Mon, Aug 12, 2013, 9:04 PM UTC

When I was a kid I had a similar idea, a low pressure elevated concrete tube transport system. In my idea cars would get rails underneath them and freely enter/exit the tube at some key points. The cars would get a compressor to help keep the not-so-large pressure differential at bay; all inspired by evacuated tube documentaries.

In other words, this has been proposed several times before. However, there are some key innovations here - namely the compressor/nozzle pair and the air suspension system - which may indeed change the game and make this viable.