Haute 100 SF: University of Illinois Students Create Working Model of Elon Musk’s Hyperloop

Mechanical engineering students from the University of Illinois teamed up to create a functional prototype of Elon Musk’s superfast transportation called Hyperloop.

The miniature prototype, which is1:24 scale model, consist of metal oval tube taking up the entire room. It uses electromagnetic motors, placed along the inside of the tubes, to move around. The model has a speed of three meters per second, but if it’s scaled up it’s the same as the Hyperloop running at a speed of 160 miles per hour.

In an interview with Motherboard, an online magazine and video channel launched by Vice, Andrew Horton, a recent graduate who helped lead the project, said, “We had to make some simplifications to the prototype. We use roller bearings instead of air bearings, for instance. For the sake of our prototype, it wasn’t feasible to have that complex of a system implanted in one semester. We’re thinking future classes will take our work and move forward with it.”

Horton and is his fellow cohorts have been working on their version of the Hyperloop for roughly two years, and intend on using their research to hone in on their design for the Hyperloop contest.

Since the announcement of the contest, which will take place at the SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California, more than 700 people have signed up to help Musk create a Hyperloop prototype.

Check out the model below.

Featured Photo via Andrew Horton