Hyperloop Technology

Hyperloop is an advanced passenger and cargo transportation mode, initially used to describe an open-source vacuum tube train design developed by Tesla and SpaceX. Hyperloop is also named Hyperloop Transportation Technologies or HTT.

Hyperloop is a sealed cylinder or arrangement of cylinders with low pneumatic force through which a pod may travel substantially free of air resistance or friction. The Hyperloop could convey passengers or articles at aircraft or hypersonic speeds while being very energy effective.

Layout and Working of Hyperloop:

An axial compressor on the front, passenger compartment in the middle, battery compartment at the back, and air caster skis at the bottom

Advancements in high-speed rail have generally been obstructed by the challenges in managing friction and air resistance, the two of which become considerable when vehicles approach high speeds. The vactrain idea theoretically kills these obstructions by utilizing magnetically levitating trains in evacuated or incompletely emptied tubes, taking into consideration speeds of thousands of miles for every hour. The Hyperloop looks like a vactrain framework yet works at roughly one millibar (100 Pa) of pressure.

History:

The first-time Elon musk referred that he was contemplating an idea for a “fifth method of transport” and considering it the Hyperloop in July 2012 at a Pando Daily function in Santa Monica, California.

From late 2012 until August 2013, a gathering of designers from both Tesla and SpaceX worked on the conceptual modeling of Hyperloop.

In June 2015, SpaceX reported that it would manufacture a 1-mile-long (1.6 km) test track to be situated close to SpaceX’s Hawthorne office. The track is utilized to test pod designs provided by third parties.

By November 2015, with a few business organizations and many student groups seeking the improvement of Hyperloop technologies, the Wall Street Journal stated that “The Hyperloop Movement,” as some of its unaffiliated individuals allude to themselves, is formally greater than the one who began it.”

The MIT Hyperloop group built up the primary Hyperloop pod model, which they uncovered at the MIT Museum on 13 May 2016. Their design utilizes electrodynamic suspension for levitating and eddy current braking.

On 29 January 2017, roughly one year after stage one of the Hyperloop pod rivalry, the MIT Hyperloop pod reveal the first-ever low-pressure Hyperloop and The award for the “fastest pod” won by the team WARR Hyperloop from the Technical University of Munich (TUM)

In August 2017, WARR Hyperloop from the Technical University of Munich won the competition by arriving at a maximum velocity of 324 km/h (201 mph) and breaking 310 km/h for Hyperloop models set by Hyperloop One on their test track.

In July 2018, the WARR Hyperloop group from the Technical University of Munich beat its record with a maximum of 457 km/h (284 mph) velocity during their run.

In August 2019, the group from the Technical University of Munich, presently known as TUM Hyperloop, again winning the competition and beating their record with a maximum velocity of 463 km/h (288 mph)

Functionalities of Hyperloop technology: Speed, sustainability, safety & comfort, system operations

Evolution of IP in Hyperloop technology:

On 05 April 2016, Lecorpio, the pioneer in intellectual property (IP) management and analytics software solutions, declared that rapid transportation trend-setter Hyperloop Technologies, Inc., has chosen Lecorpio Intellectual Property Management for modernized Patent Workflow, meaningful reporting, and top-notch Security. The organization’s productive specialists are effectively inventing and filing patents at an increasing rate.

Hyperloop groups can file for IP under their organizations or with the colleges. Moreover, various organizations around the globe may want to buy Hyperloop patents from colleges.

As there is no extensive review of who is dealing with the hyperloop and what they are working on, the duplication of work is done because students/hyperloop teams do not have a coherent place to share their discoveries and ideas.

Therefore, the effect of the work is restricted. A few organizations are reluctant to impart their intellectual property to the rest of the world. Moreover, many individuals don’t have a clear idea of what the hyperloop is.

In this way, to elevate practical work and to share Hyperloop information, Delft Hyperloop has chosen to launch a site called Hyperloop associated. This website follows:

1.  an intelligent world guide, governments, organizations, understudy groups, and college staff dealing with Hyperloop
2.  publications/articles from inspiring organizations, companies, universities, and students
3.  Technology articles from Hyperloop teams and companies
4.  the nuts and bolts on the hyperloop so anyone can see how it functions
5.  Through Hyperloop Connected, we can maximally add to the advancement of Hyperloop innovation by sharing the information we have gained while working on a Hyperloop team and joining different parties.

Top players in Hyperloop technology:

From the graph mentioned above, we can observe that HYPERLOOP TECH INC owns a large number of patents in the market, and also the graph gives detailed information that HYPERLOOP TECH INC is the topmost IP player in the Hyperloop transportation technology when distinguished from the other companies which also act as decent players in Hyperloop transportation technology

Patent publishing trends:

The above graph gives the details that the patent filings increase rapidly every year, which indicates that the companies are showing more interest in filing their intangible assets in the Hyperloop transportation technology.

Top CPCs:

From the above graph, we come to know that the commonly used classification codes under the CPC system for published applications filed in the field of Hyperloop transportation technology are:

Conclusion:

From this case study, the fifth-generation of transport (Hyperloop) may become future transportation, and many patent filings in the Hyperloop technology give enormous scope for transportation improvements.

Resources:

https://virginhyperloop.com/

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160405005625/en/Hyperloop-Technologies-Chooses-Lecorpio-IP-Management-Solution

https://www.lumenci.com/post/collegiate-hyperloop-technology-transfer

https://hyperloopconnected.org/about-hyperloop-connected/

www.reddie.co.uk/2020/11/24/which-companies-are-filing-hyperloop-patents/

www.maxval.com/blog/featured-technologies-hyperloop/

Keywords:

Hyperloop, HTT, Top players, Patent filing/publishing, CPC, intellectual property