[Updates at the end of this posting]
Since about half a year SPL supports Swissloop on their work of their propulsion system. Last weekend of 22. July 2017 we pressure-tested the system. Pressure and leakage tests went well. The weekend of 29. July 2017 a full thrust test on one of our thrust test stands was conducted.
Catch the roll out live on their Facebook Stream from on Thursday 27.07.17 at 18:00 CEST! Today, they got the invitation from SpaceX to be part of the competition end of August!
Some media coverage of the roll out and the competition in California:
- Blick, ETH-Studenten entwickeln den schnellsten Zug der Welt. Diese Schweizer begeistern den Tesla-Chef
- Swiss broadcast station SRF and here the movie in the evening news
- 20 Minutes, Von Zürich nach Genf in 30 Minuten
- Tagesanzeiger, Ultraschnelle Transportkapsel der ETH
- Der Bund
- A video of the pressure and thrust testing (Via Facebook) [Update 5. August 2017]
- Interview on RadioEins with Daniel Kaufmann. Local MP3:
- Tagblatt 21th August 2017
- CNBC 25th August 2017
- High five with Elon Musk (28th August 2017)
- A write up on the ETH web page.
- Luca @ future day 2107
- More pictures
The Swissloop team at the roll out 27. July 2017 in the ETH main building
Finally SPL’s logo appears on the pod 🙂 Thanks!
Test run of the rocket system [Update 29. July 2017]
Today we tested Swissloop’s rocket system (Leakage and pressure testing happened a week ago). No details form our side, because the results are proprietary. But we had a lot of fun!
Infrared picture from the ice cold tubes and nozzles afer the tests.
Sitting the guys from Swissloop: Chris Timperio, Manuel (?), Daniel Kaufmann
Standing Hu. Ammann and Bruno Berger both SPL
A video of the pressure and thrust testing (Via Facebook) [Update 5. August 2017]
Competition Weekend II is scheduled for August 25-27, 2017, at SpaceX’s Hyperloop track in Hawthorne, CA [Update 28. August 2017]
Swissloop made it into the finale of 3 teams out of hundreds! This is a great achievement. Before you can run it in vacuum you have to pass many tests. Elon Musk was there too and gave them a high five:
The run itself went so so well. Their battery drained in the tunnel while waiting for vacuumization.
It was a great experience to work with you guys. Thanks and good luck with the next projects!
SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition
Swissloop is a team of 40 physics, mathematics, electrical-, mechanical- and civil engineering students at the ETH Zurich that is complemented by design and business students from Switzerland. Their objective is to design and build a prototype for this new kind of ground transportation: the Hyperloop.
SpaceX, a private space company based in Hawthorne, California, is currently running a competition for universities around the world to design, build and race pod prototypes of the Hyperloop. The company has already built a 1.25km-long test track for this purpose. The competition is divided into three stages: two design stages, a preliminary draft design submitted in November 2016 and a detailed build-ready design to be submitted in February 2017. Swissloop’s objective is simple: build the fastest pod that has to successfully accelerate and decelerate within the limits of the test track in summer 2017.
Tags: SpaceX, Hyperloop, Swissloop