During the Hyperloop weekend competition back in January, university teams and engineering researchers converged at the SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne to advance to the next stage of the Hyperloop development.
Lehigh University's Hyperloop team was reportedly the last pod standing during the SpaceX weekend competition but it was not able to advance to the final round. All of the teams had to go through a rigorous technical round before they can test their pods in the one-mile long track.
The Lehigh Hyperloop group did not enter the final stage of the competition because of the size of the pod. Regardless of this setback, the team still feels that they have accomplished something great, as reported by The Brown and White. Tech Tanasarnsopaporn, a member of the team, says that their pod is the closest to the idea of an ideal Hyperloop. He compares their pod to the other teams where they use complicated systems.
In the official Lehigh web page, the shell of the pod uses a durable and affordable aluminum. The same material airplanes use. And since the pod uses fans, compressors, batteries, a full sized dummy and many more, the pod has a big hull in comparison with other pods.
Tanasarnsopaporn points out that their Hyperloop pod is the most affordable, fastest and probably safest. The reason as to why they did not participate in the final round was because of the time it takes to accommodate the size of their pod. But they are not the only teams who are affected by this. The teams from University of Washington, University of Cincinnati and Virginia Tech were all unable to compete.
Still, the team wishes they are able to test it on the track. However, the Lehigh Hyperloop students are not letting this setback get to them. They are now looking for a new competition that will challenge them.
Know more about the Lehigh team in the video below:
