{"id":21925,"date":"2017-09-18T10:55:12","date_gmt":"2017-09-18T14:55:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/?p=21925"},"modified":"2019-03-12T12:31:18","modified_gmt":"2019-03-12T16:31:18","slug":"azloop-spacex-hyperloop-pod-competition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/azloop-spacex-hyperloop-pod-competition\/","title":{"rendered":"New AZLoop Team Makes It to Top Eight In Its First SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition"},"content":{"rendered":"

AZLoop<\/span><\/a>, Arizona\u2019s SpaceX Hyperloop Competition Team, has made it to the <\/span>top eight<\/span><\/a> in the first competition it entered\u2014SpaceX\u2019s second Hyperloop Pod Competition. The team, which is made up of students from Arizona State University (ASU), Northern Arizona University, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, and Thunderbird School of Global Management, has demonstrated an impressive and inspiring performance.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hyperloop is a revolutionary high-speed form of transportation invented several years ago by SpaceX founder and Tesla CEO Elon Musk. It works similarly to the high-speed railways in place in Japan and Europe, but is able to reach much higher speeds. While traditional high-speed train lines cap out at around 400 mph, the hyperloop could potentially reach speeds up to 760 mph. <\/span><\/p>\n

A hyperloop system places train cars called \u201cpods\u201d inside a large steel vacuum tube that eliminates nearly all atmospheric drag, which allows the pods to travel at extremely high speeds. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe idea with this competition is to help push forward the development of this technology, and design some of the first prototypes ever for the hyperloop concept,\u201d AZLoop team co-lead Lynne Nethken said. <\/span><\/p>\n

As a brand new team, AZLoop made it through several qualifier rounds, in which it competed with teams from around the world. Leading up to the final competition on August 27, the team had to go through a week-long series of functional tests to qualify with a chance to test its pod in the hyperloop tube. <\/span><\/p>\n

The team finished the qualifying rounds tied with the top eight teams out of 23 teams from around the world that were selected to go to the final competition. Due to time constraints, however, SpaceX could only allow three pods into the tubes, so only the three teams with their names on the top of the list were selected for a trial run in the tube. AZLoop, unfortunately, did not have time for a trial run in the tube. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t have time to put our pod in the hyperloop, but we were qualified to do so, which was fantastic,\u201d said Nethken. \u201cAll three of the teams that were selected to run in the hyperloop were teams that had already built pods and been in competition one. It was really incredible, and we were extremely proud that as a completely new team, we were able to keep pace with those teams and match them point for point.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n