Students Compete in Real-Life Test of ‘Hyperloop’ Transportation

A system to transport bullet-shaped people movers at super-fast speeds recently got its first real-world test.
一种以超高速运输弹头状大众交通工具的系统，最近第一次在现实世界中进行试验。

The system, called Hyperloop, was the idea of American businessman Elon Musk.He created and owns the aerospace company SpaceX, as well as electric carmaker Tesla.
该系统叫做Hyperloop（超级铁路），是美国商人伊隆·马斯克的想法。他创立并拥有一家航天公司SpaceX，以及电动汽车制造商特斯拉。

Musk decided to hold an international competition for people to build working models of the proposed transportation system.Its vehicles would travel through low-pressure tubes, what Musk calls a Hyperloop.His goal is eventually to provide transportation between cities that is faster,safer and costs less than current high-speed trains.
马斯克决定为人们举办一场国际竞赛，为其设想的交通系统构建工作模型。该系统内的车辆可以在低压管道中穿梭，马斯克称其为超级铁路。他的目标是提供一种比如今高铁更快捷，更安全，成本更低的城市间交通方式。

Musk says Hyperloop could carry people from Los Angeles to San Francisco- a distance of 600 kilometers in 30 minutes.Driving that same distance in a car would take nearly six hours.A high-speed train trip would take about two hours.
马斯克说超级铁路可以在30分钟内，将人们从洛杉矶送往旧金山，全称600公里。相同距离下，开车要开将近6小时。高铁也要花费两小时。

Hyperloop would be designed to reach a top speed of about 1,200 kilometers an hour.Currently, the fastest train in the world is being tested in Japan.So far, it has reached a top speed of 603 kilometers per hour.
超级铁路旨在达到每小时1200公里的速度。如今世界上最快的火车在日本经过测试。至今为止，其最快时速是每小时603公里。

The system, which is still in early development, uses vehicles known as pods.An electromagnetic force causes the pods to "float" on air inside a series of steel tubes.Air would then be forced out of the tubes to reduce pressure and lower the resistance for the vehicles.
该系统仍处于早期研发阶段，使用的车辆为豆荚车。电磁力使得车辆可以悬浮在钢管内部。之后空气会被排出管道以减小压力，降低车辆的阻力。

A total of 26 engineering teams recently gathered in Los Angeles to test their Hyperloop model vehicles.The vehicles were sent through a 1,600-meter-long vacuum tube built by SpaceX.
26支工程队集结洛杉矶，测试他们的超级铁路车辆原型机。这些车辆在SpaceX建造的1600米长的真空管道中进行测试。

Musk said the competition was meant to get engineers thinking about how to create completely new methods of transportation.
马斯克说这场竞赛旨在让工程师们思考，如何创造完全崭新的交通工具。

What this is really intended to do is to encourage innovation in transport technology.To get people excited about new forms of transport -things that may be completely different from what we see today.
“这场竞赛真正的意图在于鼓励交通技术方面的创新。让人们为新形式的运输系统兴奋不已，未来的交通也许和我们如今看到的完全不一样。”

The top speed award went to a 35-person team from Germany’s Technical University of Munich.Josef Fleischmann is a member of the WARR Hyperloop team.He said it was exciting to win after working on the model for the past 18 months.
最高速大奖授予了来自德国慕尼黑工业大学的35人团队。约瑟夫·弗莱施曼是WARR超级铁路团队的一员。他说非常兴奋，在为模型努力18个月后赢得这一奖项。

Well, it went pretty well.We went down all the way, reached 93 kilometers per hour.So all of our subsystems worked.We’re pretty happy.
“真的非常棒。我们的系统从头到尾运行顺畅，达到每小时93公里的速度。我们所有的子系统也都运作良好。我们真的非常开心。”

Another team, rLoop, was made up of 140 young engineers from all over the world.All of them cooperated on the project remotely.The group’s lead engineer, Tom Lambot,said many members met their teammates for the first time at the competition.
另一支名叫rLoop的队伍，集结了全世界140名青年工程师。他们远程进行该项目的合作。该团队的首席工程师汤姆·郎博特说，很多成员在比赛当天也第一次见面。

The first time we tested the vehicle was when we came to the competition.And it was also the first time some of us that have been working on this for a year-and-a-half ever met in person.
“我们来到这里参赛也是我们第一次测试车辆。这也是我们合作了一年半，第一次当面见到一些队员。”

Among other things, the pod vehicles were tested for efficiency, stabilization and braking – being able to stop quickly.Cameras recorded video of the tests from inside the tubes.
比赛中要测试豆荚车的性能、稳定性以及刹车系统，也就是具备快速停车的能力。管道内安装有摄像机记录测试过程。

The highest overall rating went to a team from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands.Delft Hyperloop team member Mars Geuze said his group was able to build a comfortable,nice-looking vehicle that also performed well.
来自荷兰代尔夫特理工大学的队伍获得了最高的综合评分。代尔夫特队伍的一名成员马斯·古兹说，他们的团队可以创造一辆舒适度强，外观好看，性能表现良好的车辆。

We designed a completely integrated vehicle, even with a passenger compartment, with lighting and an interior.
“我们设计出了一款综合性能良好的车辆，甚至还带有客厢，灯光和内饰。”

An engineering team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) won third place for design and construction.It was also given the top award for safety and reliability.
麻省理工学院的一支代表队赢得了设计建造奖第三名。同时获得安全与可靠性奖。

SpaceX says the next Hyperloop competition – which will focus on top speed – will be held later this year.
SpaceX公司表示，下一届的超级铁路比赛将集中于高速方面的比拼，竞赛将于今年年末举行。

I’m Bryan Lynn.
布莱恩·林恩为您报道。