Swissloop – Vacuum compatibility of Hyperloop Pods
The journey to a vacuum proof Pod
Vacuum is one of the key pillars of the Hyperloop concept. It enables dragless travel at high speeds.
Vacuum, however, is also a major challenge. Both from an infrastructure point of view as well as a pod-sided view. A safe pressurized cabin must be built for humans or cargo. Coils used for levitation and propulsion must be highly-efficient to not generate too much heat, or must be actively cooled. Electronics exposed to vacuum must also be cooled. Further, electronic components must be chosen to withstand the vacuum environment or placed in a pressurized container.
It all also begs the critical question: How do you handle leakages?
A major focus of our Pod Sarah Springman was to make the system fully vacuum-compatible. As the first student team in the world, Swissloop developed a hyperloop pod with a completely vacuum-sealed cabin.
Pressurized Cabin
The pressurized cabin features a comfortable seat for one passenger and also houses the electronics.
Airplane inspired door
The airplane inspired door uses the internal pressure of the pod to sustain the forces of vacuum. As the internal pressure pushes outwards the door pushes against the hull of the pod, sealing the cabin.
Round cabin design
The pressure cabin uses a round design to minimize the forces on any part of the cabin and hence maintain a pressure of 0.8 bar (like an airplane at cruising altitude) when placed in a vacuum environment.
Pressure regulation system
Leakage is unavoidable. Every pressure cabin will leak in a vacuum environment. The question simply is: how much?
Faced with this reality we designed a pressure regulation system. Using pressure sensors we measure the interior pressure of the pod. When it drops below 0.8 bars the pressure regulation system refills the pod with air by slightly opening valves of a 200 bar container. This system can replenish up to 17% of the cabin’s volume, keeping a steady internal pressure even when leaks occur.
The Pressure Regulation Control Unit is the PCB that accomplishes this task. Using our custom developed General Purpose PCB (which features a microcontroller and FPGA) it measures pressure, temperature and CO2 in the air to regulate the cabin’s internal environment.
Electronics
For the operation of the entire pod and especially the safety functionality of the pressure regulation system and detection of leaks we require electronics. Eurocircuits makes it possible for us to develop custom PCBs to most efficiently meet our goals. Thank you Eurocircuits for supporting us with your excellent PCB manufacturing!
Outlook
With our new 2025 hyperloop prototype we aim to further push the boundaries of vacuum compatibility. With a new cabin design, better cooling and an improved pressure regulation system we hope to further push the boundaries of hyperloop.
For more information please visit the Swissloop website.
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