Those of you, who missed the grand opportunity of participating in SpaceX’s first Hyperloop Pod Competition, save the dates for the next one now! Or rather, go ahead and apply right away!
SpaceX has announced that ‘Hyperloop Pod Competition II’ will take place between August 25 and 27 in Hawthorne, California. The contest is open for new students/teams, as well as those who demonstrated their skills in the first weekend of the Pod competition.
This second hyperloop pod competition is being organised in order to boost up student innovation and to accelerate the concept of high-speed ground transport, which is Hyperloop. The official blog showcases the names of 24 teams, who’ve already signed up for this weekend affair.
But fear not, the participation list is still open to signing! Phew! These teams belong to various universities spread across the globe including a team called ‘Hyperloop India’ from BITS Pilani college in Rajasthan, India.
Unlike the first competition, which featured multiple judging criteria, there is one and only one criterion of judgement this time –maximum speed with successful deceleration (i.e. without crashing). This means all Pods shall be judged in a single class, all of them demonstrating their speed capabilities. Multiple Pod classes such as wheeled vehicles, micro-Pods, etc., have been dismissed for this second round.
Announcing the second competition, SpaceX’s blog post reads as under,
Based on the high-quality submissions and overwhelming enthusiasm surrounding the first competition, SpaceX has moved forward with Hyperloop Pod Competition II, which will culminate in a second competition on August 25-27, 2017, at SpaceX’s Hyperloop track. Hyperloop Competition II focus on a single criterion: maximum speed.
Returning teams are required to build a new Pod or refine the existing Pod through modifications. This rule seems to be completely justified as there is no sense in watching the exact Pod, without any upgrades, a second time around. The selected teams will compete their Pods against each other at the SpaceX test track to win the competition. Showering liberty in abundance, SpaceX will enable the teams to test their Pods on the test track before official judging for the competition starts.
Gear up Folks! The second chance to show-off your high-speed transportation pod is just a few weeks away. Since the winner pod in February reached a speed of 55mph; there is already a benchmark set for you to break this time. However, the goal of the competition is to build a Pod traversing at an approximate speed of 300-700 mph. We are anxious to witness the interesting Pods for the year. Stay tuned for further updates.
