Photo: TUM Hyperloop
The Hyperloop
It’s meant to be fast, cheap and environmentally friendly: it’s called the hyperloop. It’s a transport system for passengers and freight, in which so-called “capsules” or “pods” are shot through an airtight tube that is in partial vacuum. Non-contact levitation and propulsion systems, and low air resistance in the tubes, enable the pods to move ultra-fast.
Photo: TUM Hyperloop
Students at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have been working on such pod prototypes. And with success: the TUM Hyperloop team from Bavaria currently holds the world speed record with its pod model. One of these TUM models is now with us here at Futurium.
This video from the TV show Galileo (2017) explains in greater detail the working principle of the pods – and takes you through the idea behind them, how they function, and TUM’s participation in the pod competition: