Sci-Tech: Hyperloop competition at SpaceX underway. Live webcast.

The university Hyperloop competition at the SpaceX HQ in Hawthorne, California is underway. Live webcast is available at www.spacex.com/hyperloop. See also Hyperloop live report – Daily Breeze | Facebook.

30 university teams are participating in the contest. The track is a hollow tube about three-quarter-mile (1.2 km) long and pumped down to low pressure. Each of the teams will run their pod vehicle down the pod. The pod performance will be evaluated on acceleration, speed, braking, etc.

[ Update: Reports on the competition results:

From Alan Boyle:

Here’s who won the Hyperloop competition’s awards:

Fastest team: WARR Hyperloop.
Highest overall score: Delft Hyperloop.
Safety and reliability award: MIT Hyperloop.
Performance and operations: University of Maryland. Honorable mention: Virginia Tech, Purdue, Hyperlift (St. John’s High School, Texas).
Performance in flight: WARR Hyperloop.
Innovation: Badgerloop (University of Wisconsin at Madison) and Team rLoop (the contest’s only non-student team, organized through Reddit). Honorable mention: VicHyper (Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Australia).
Design and construction: The top 10, from 1 to 10, are Delft, WARR, MIT, Virginia Tech, University of Maryland, University of Washington, Purdue, Carnegie Mellon University, Hyperlift, Keio Alpha.