After Elon Musk sent out a challenge for the world to create the fifth mode of transportation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology answered.
With MIT's Hyperloop pod ready to levitate and bring the world closer to the next generation of transportation, Elon Musk's vision is slowly revealed. During the recent Hyperloop competition in SpaceX's Hawthorne site in California, MIT is only one out of the three teams that passed various rigorous tests before they can bring their Hyperloop pods to the tube.
The near-vacuum Hyperloop tube is a mile long delivery system that enables MIT to shoot a levitating pod. A team member from MIT excitedly reveals that their design works, as reported by MIT News. Although the test is only based on a one mile length, it is a step forward to seeing a world where traffic and travel time can be reduced to half or less at the speed of sound, or close to it.
The Hyperloop pod uses reduced air friction and low energy propulsion systems. Last year, on January 2016, the MIT engineering team was able to move forward to 2017's round. They competed against other teams that hopes to fulfill Elon Musk's vision. In 2016, there were 115 university teams from 20 countries and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology team took home the Best Overall Design Award.
Last month, MIT made it to the testing round with only Delft University and the Technical University of Munich. Aside from making it to Elon Musk's top three list, they also won the award for safety and reliability, as reported by VOA News.
But the current team is going to graduate soon. What they are going to do next is to transfer their knowledge to the next generation team. The next Hyperloop competition this year is going to focus on top speed.
Watch the MIT clip below for a closer look during the Hyperloop competition:
