The Forge Hyperloop V1

The Forge Hyperloop V1 is a 6-foot physical scale model of a hyperloop transportation system, built independently as the founding project of Forge Hyperloop. It explores the core engineering principles of low-friction transit — track design, pod aerodynamics, and linear propulsion — at a tangible, demonstrable scale. This is the physical foundation that V1.5 and future iterations are built on.

Hyperloop technology exists mostly in simulation and concept. I wanted to build something real — something I could hold, test, and break — to understand the engineering constraints that simulations hide. The goal was to create a working physical model that could demonstrate the fundamental transit principles before introducing the complexity of magnetic levitation.

Designed the track geometry and pod chassis from scratch, iterated on the propulsion mechanism, and documented every failure as a constraint for the next iteration. Each design decision was driven by what the physical system taught me, not what the theory predicted.

Built using custom fabricated components with a focus on track stability and pod guidance systems. The track is a straight 6-foot section with end constraints. The pod chassis was designed for minimal friction contact with the track walls. The project is currently evolving into V1.5 with the introduction of passive magnetic levitation via Halbach arrays.

Physical systems punish assumptions. Every calculation I trusted on paper had to be re-earned on the track. The most valuable outcome of V1 wasn't a working model — it was a precise map of which constraints actually matter and which ones I had been worrying about unnecessarily.