A suspension system devised by
a group of Italian students may be part of the the Hyperloop
'train of the future' being created by businessman Elon Musk.
The seven students from the University of Pisa and the
Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna institute have proposed a suspension
system to protect passengers from vibrations.
It has been selected to take part at Design Weekend later
this month at Austin's Texas A&M University to identify the best
ideas for the conceptual transport system.
Musk's Hyperloop envisages pressurized capsules riding on
an air cushion driven by motors and air compressors.
The aim is for the train to be able to travel at over
1,000 kilometres per hour, connecting cities as far apart as
Rome and Milan in 35 minutes.
"Our group was selected from the 1,200 who presented ideas
from all over the world," Emanuele Raffaele, one of the group
members, told ANSA.
"We are very satisfied".
The other members of the group, aged 23 to 26, are Luca
Cesaretti, Lorenzo Andrea Parrotta, Tommaso Sartor, Giorgio
Valsecchi, Sandro Okutuga and Giulio De Simone.
They are hoping to be among the groups who will test their
systems in a 1:2 scale model that will be set up in the summer
in cylinder that is some 1.5 kilometres long.
The visibility could also attract other investors
interested in their work.
Musk, the Tesla Motors and SpaceX CEO who has South
African, American and Canadian citizenship, estimates his system
would cost about $6 Billion to build to connect Los Angeles and
San Francisco.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
