 Oh man, this is a heavy door. Okay, so what if I told you that there was a mode of transportation that not only promised to leave planes, trains, and automobiles all in the dust, but to do so with extraordinary efficiency, and that TECon activity brought us down to Los Angeles to take a close look at a sponsored prototype built by a ragtag team of Reddit engineers... re-engineers? Calling themselves R-Loop from all over the world. It weighs 400 kilograms, contains hundreds of sensors, and it can frickin' hover. So R-Loop started out in much the same way that any online community does, as a group of passionate people on Reddit that saw that SpaceX was hosting a Hyperloop competition and figured that they could do it better. But unlike most online communities, with some help from SpaceX and sponsors like TECon activity, who provided engineering resources, sensors, wiring, and manufacturing space, they managed to overcome the geographical and communication barriers that inevitably arise when you've got a team of over a thousand people scattered across dozens of countries, and they actually did something. And considering that all of these folks are volunteers, one of which even quit his job and moved to the US from India for a year, what they've done is nothing short of amazing. So let's take a closer look at the pod. Now if you're not already familiar with the Hyperloop concept, the first thing you'll probably notice is that there's no obvious external propulsion mechanism, like a jet engine or a propeller. That's because Hyperloop pods aren't expected to be able to propel themselves. See this big plate on the back of the pod? It's called a pusher plate. Now in the future, pods could be launched down the tube at near hypersonic speeds, then boosted by linear induction motors, essentially making the tube a big rail gun, or they could use an onboard system. But for the purposes of the competition that we're attending today, this pusher plate is used to give the pod a colossal kick in the ass with a stripped down Tesla and send it whipping down the track. But anyone who's ever tried to mimic their dog sticking their head out of a car window can probably guess that the fiber class nose cone over there isn't going to solve the pod's air resistance challenges at over a thousand kilometers per hour, where air feels less like a gentle breeze and more like the Boston molasses tsunami of 1919. Which is a real thing by the way, look it up. So the proposed solution for now is to run these pods inside a closed tube that's being held at a near vacuum. Now the clever among you have probably also noticed that these wheels are totally unsuitable for speed of sound travel. That's because they are only for manual maneuvering of the pod and emergencies. These babies right here are what actually keep the pod's butt from getting as raw as mine did on a dried up water slide that one time. There are eight of what the team affectionately refers to as hover engines. Each of them is made up of freaking strong magnets. It's a scientific term right there. Arranged in what's called a hullback array to augment the strength of the magnetic field of the individual magnets. So when they start spinning over an electrically conductive surface, they actually create enough lift to keep this 400 kilogram pod levitating above the track. Then there are also passive magnets on the bottom for additional lift once the pod gets up to full speed. And while we're on the topic of magnets, they power the brakes too. The pod uses two 28 inch hullback arrays that are configured such that they create drag as they approach a conductive surface without making contact. So that means no biannual brake pad replacements. Sorry Napa. And this is really cool too. While any pod that would hope to be used in a working Hyperloop would need to levitate to achieve the required efficiency, our loops design is unique in that its active hover engines allow it to levitate over any conductive surface, not just inside of a specialized tube. And furthermore, their gimbal mounting system lets them be used for thrust in addition to just lift. However, this crazy levitation is super power hungry. So much so that the team had to design and custom manufacture two of these 2000 amp lithium polymer battery packs. These things are so powerful that a wrench accidentally dropped inside would essentially weld itself to the copper bus bars. Then they crammed both of them into the pod for redundancy, which is where TE connectivity comes in through the transmission of power and data signals. Now let's talk cooling. The heat generated by the various mechanical and electrical systems in the pod, many of which you can actually see when we pop the hood, is monitored by over 600 thermal sensors. But monitoring is not enough. You got to get rid of it. And because there will be virtually no air in the tube, the solution is not as simple as just slapping a radiator to the front of the pod. Our loops answer this liquid carbon dioxide cooling system. So at the end of each of these little brass fittings is a super small hole, only 13 and a half thousandths of an inch that when activated dispenses four grams of liquid CO2 per second. When that goes from the high pressure holding tank to the low pressure near vacuum environment, the liquid CO2 vaporizes removing heaps of heat in the process. How much exactly? Well, let's just say that if you opened it up over a glowing hot toaster, you'd be left with a block of dry ice. To say that there are still a lot of engineering, manufacturing, security, cost, and logistical problems for Hyperloop believers to solve would be an understatement. But the work being done here and the reason for sponsors like TE Connectivity to get involved is not necessarily about building a working Hyperloop and pod tomorrow. It's about developing technologies that may end up being deployed in completely different ways that we haven't even imagined yet. And if we succeed in building a system that lets commuters travel from San Francisco to LA in as little as 35 minutes with no strip search from your friendly local TSA officer, well, then that's just icing. So thanks for watching guys, if you disliked this video you can hit that button, but if you liked it, hit the like button, get subscribed, maybe consider checking out te.com slash R-loop where you can watch a five part webisode documentary about the R-loop team and learn about their awesome virtual collaboration model.