IIT Madras Students Are the Only Asian Team to Qualify For the SpaceX Hyperloop Finals

Elon Musk’s SpaceX pioneers an idea that could change the world: the fifth mode of transport, the Hyperloop Pod. A hyperloop is a mode of transport that travels through a pod without resistance, thus conveying people or objects in high speed. In an effort to encourage innovation and development of functional prototype, SpaceX has been organizing the Hyperloop Pod Competition since 2017. The competition is open to participants across the world and the rules are simple: the team to come up with a hyperloop pod with maximum speed and successful deceleration (without crashing) wins. In a first, team ‘Avishkar Hyperloop’ from IIT Madras has qualified to the final round – the only Asian team to do so!

Armed with a prototype Hylerloop that pod that will take you from Mumbai to Chennai in an hour, the team is all set to fight against 21 contenders in the final round that will take place in July 2019. Though they didn’t qualify to the finals last year, Team Avishkar defeated as many as 1,600 teams in the entrant level to make it to the final round this year. Suyash Singh, the head and founder of the team breaks it down for us: “For the ongoing competition, we will be employing a wheel-based model. Our pod would run on wheels, powered by individual motors and battery packs. We are targeting speeds of 300-350 km/h in a distance of 1.5 km in a vacuum tube. We plan to complete the assembly of our Hyperloop Pod by mid-June and ship it to California for the finals of the competition. Being involved in developing the latest technology is one of the most rewarding experiences for our entire team.”

SpaceX’s Hyperloop Pod Competition seeks to bring out the very best of scientific innovation from around the world, and Team Avishkar fits the bill. Ranging from undergraduate students to PhD scholars, the team has been working consistently for the development of this project at the Centre for Innovation (CFI) at IIT-Madras. Being recognized for their work at an international level – among thousands of other participants - is a remarkable achievement for the team, and a glorious feather in India’s cap.

We wish Team Avishkar all the very best for the final round of the Hyperloop Pod Competition!

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