Competition
2026-2027

HyperXite

HyperXite

Summary

Established in 2015 at UC Irvine, HyperXite is an undergraduate project team that participates in the SpaceX Hyperloop competition. Our team is focused on researching and developing new technologies to revolutionize sustainable transportation. The Hyperloop concept is a proposed high-speed mode of transportation that uses a pod to transport passengers and cargo through vacuum tubes. This concept was developed in 2013 and described as a “5th mode of transportation”. At a top speed of 760 mph, passengers could travel from Los Angeles to San Francisco in just 35 minutes. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the Hyperloop could use up to 20% less energy per passenger-mile than air travel. HyperXite is fully immersed in the process of designing new technologies, helping advance both rapid and sustainable travel for the future. Most recently, HyperXite competed at the 2025 Canadian Hyperloop Global conference, earning 1st-place awards in Guidance System, Levitation, and Overall Presentation.

Current Work / Recent Updates

HyperXite 12 is the second year of our two-year project cycle. We will continue to optimize our pod for weight, speed, and power by improving our mechanical and electrical subsystems. This includes a new fluid cooling system for thermal management and reliability, a custom variable-frequency drive for enhanced motor control and power delivery, and preparation for the full integration of a levitation system with an upscaled electromagnetic suspension system prototype. 

Team Structure

Static Structures

  • Software: SOLIDWORKS 2026, Ansys Mechanical
  • Goals:
    • Design the pod chassis and subsystem mounting designs in SOLIDWORKS and collaborate with subteams to oversee integration
    • Conduct finite element analysis (FEA) simulations in Ansys Mechanical to verify a minimum pod-wide factor of safety (FOS) of 2

Stabilization Systems

  • Software: SOLIDWORKS 2026, MATLAB Simulink
  • Goals:
    • Design a suspension system to ensure smooth travel and maintain proper trajectory during pod runs
    • Characterize and model the system in Simulink to analyze the pod suspension’s impulse response behavior

Braking & Pneumatics

  • Software: SOLIDWORKS 2026, Ansys Mechanical
  • Goals:
    • Design a pneumatically actuated braking system in SOLIDWORKS and verify the design using finite element analysis (FEA)
    • Implement fail-safe mechanisms to ensure safe and controlled deceleration in the event of electrical power loss or other system failure

Thermal Cooling

  • Software: SOLIDWORKS 2026, Ansys Thermal Desktop, AEDT Icepak, and Ansys Fluent
  • Goals:
    • Develop an active cooling system utilizing forced convective heat transfer to maintain the linear induction motor (LIM) within safe operating temperatures
    • Characterize the heat generation from the LIM and the transfer to the cooling system using AEDT Icepak and Ansys Thermal Desktop

Propulsion Systems

  • Software: Ansys Maxwell
  • Goals:
    • Design and characterize a double-sided linear induction motor in Ansys Maxwell to serve as the pod’s propulsion system
    • Collaborate with other subteams to develop optimal power delivery and thermal management strategies for the motor

Levitation R&D

  • Software: Ansys Maxwell, MATLAB/Simulink
  • Goals:
    • Design and manufacture a magnetic levitation prototype as a scalable foundation for future pod implementation
    • Model magnetic field distributions and magnitudes in Ansys Maxwell and develop the PID control logic in MATLAB/Simulink

Power Systems

  • Software: Altium
  • Goals:
    • Design and implement the high-voltage system to power the Linear Induction Motor, as well as the low-voltage system to power the telemetry sensors and other low-voltage components
    • Design the control board for low-voltage components using Altium

Control Systems

  • Software: STM32 (CubeIDE)
  • Goals:
    • Design the Finite State Machine to safely transition our pod between different states during the run
    • Create the Graphical User Interface to display live telemetry and controls

Operations

  • Software: Squarespace, Canva
  • Goals:
    • Establish and maintain communication with corporate sponsors and HyperXite alumni
    • Manage all HyperXite social media platforms and lead planning efforts for critical team events

Project Media

Project Video
Project Poster