Student team Delft Hyperloop launches its largest pod yet

Delft Hyperloop, one of the student teams at the Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), unveiled Theia, their hyperloop pod design. The students presented their concept to a festive crowd of friends, families, and partners on the TU Delft campus terrain.

The hyperloop is a future mode of transportation, consisting of a capsule traveling at speeds of up to 1000 km/h in nearly vacuum tubes. These capsules, best known as pods, levitate on tracks using special magnets. By removing air, the vehicles don’t have to push it away to counteract the drag force, and by eliminating friction, pods can move more freely, reaching faster speeds. In addition, this technology is fully electric.

The 43 students part of Delft Hyperloop have been working for nine months on Theia. From initial design and conceptualization, they entered the production phase, producing a pod the size of a Volkswagen Golf – the biggest ever in the story of the student team. Every year, a new cohort of students joins the team and works on a different iteration of a hyperloop pod.

The pod specs

“So far, the team has always made prototypes 80 centimeters wide, while Theia is nearly 2.5 meters. It aligns with our vision of scaling up,” says Sophie Loogman, team captain of Delft Hyperloop. “In addition, the pod has a great vacuum compatibility, making it comfortable for people to travel with. At the same time, we also developed a new, double-sided motor that proved to be very efficient,” Loogman adds.

A larger pod means more weight, higher stresses, more power, and new safety challenges. During the demonstration event, the students showcased a new motor design combination with eight levitation modules (HEMS) that, together, lift 1,400 kg with just 1 kWh of power, equivalent to the energy required to power a toaster. The pod can reach a top speed of 50 kilometers per hour.

The pod - © Delft Hyperloop

Building a test track

To reliably test Theia, Delft Hyperloop built its testing track on the university campus. The assembly of the track turned out to be more challenging than expected.

“We had a hard deadline to build the test track by April 4, as the exam period would have started right after, and we would not have been allowed to place it. However, our steel supplier went bankrupt, and that caused a two-month delay. In the middle of the pod production phase, we had to find 10 tons of steel somehow. It was a tough time, but we still managed to get here,” says the captain.

A comprehensive research on the hyperloop

In addition to all the design and production work, Delft Hyperloop members also examined the practical application of the hyperloop in real-life scenarios. For instance, the team examined the feasibility of using the Hyperloop for cargo transportation, designing a system to move goods across Europe.

Furthermore, the students also looked at banking methods. In this context, banking refers to the tilting or leaning of a vehicle or object as it navigates a curve or turn. The students developed ideas to reduce the turning radius of hyperloop pods, making the hyperloop more suitable for use in densely populated countries, such as the Netherlands. Delft Hyperloop also examined the socio-economic dimension of the mobility concept, outlining a strategy for its implementation.

Full speed ahead: Europe takes charge of hyperloop future

At Hardt Hyperloop’s headquarters, the EIT organized a media event to provide an overview of the state of hyperloop technology.

Theia to compete

Delft Hyperloop’s journey is not over yet. Theia will participate in the European Hyperloop Week, a student competition attended by teams from around the world. The contest, scheduled for July at the European Hyperloop Center in Veendam, will feature the team showcasing all the work done throughout the year.

“We are competing for the overall award,” states Loogman. “We want to prove we have the best system and the unique chance to do so in Europe’s largest hyperloop testing facility,” she concluded.