It was one of the top 21 teams out of more than 1,600 teams participating globally in this event. Despite the challenges from the pandemic, students collaborated closely from their homes to revamp the pods’ sub-systems with scalable and efficient technologies and manufactured and tested a Hyperloop Pod Prototype.

Highlighting the unique aspects of the Pod developed this year, despite the pandemic-related challenges, SR Chakravarthy, Faculty Advisor, Avishkar Hyperloop, said, “This is an outcome in trying times, where the students have shown their mettle and verve in accomplishing against odds.” According to him, Hyperloop is the 5th mode of transportation, a high-speed train that travels in a near-vacuum tube. The reduced air resistance allows the capsule inside the tube to reach speeds of more than 1000 km/h.

More than a competition, the European Hyperloop Week is a confluence of student teams, start-ups, and companies working in the Hyperloop domain. On the improvements made in this year’s pod, Neel Balar, team member and third-year student, Department of Engineering Design, IIT Madras, said, “Our research has yielded many technological breakthroughs such as the linear induction motor for propulsion, teams’ proprietary levitation tech, and contactless magnetic braking system, among others.

Looking beyond the pod, the team is also focusing efforts on the design of the hyperloop infrastructure.” He said the research was focused mainly on reducing the cost of this infrastructure and adapting the Hyperloop to the needs of the Indian subcontinent. “The team is truly pushing the frontiers of this technology to bring a sustainable future”, he added.