As part of its Future Partnership Program the Dubai Future Foundation has declared that it will host the Build Earth Live contest in September in Dubai. The contest will be organized by Astie for Hyperloop Designs. The contest includes designing a hyperloop link project that will reduce the travel time between Fujairah and Dubai on the opposite side of the Arabian peninsula to less than 10 minutes. Currently it takes just over two hours to travel the 102 miles (165 kilometers) between Dubai and the emirate of Fujairah.
Hyperloop to make transportation smarter in Dubai
The 48-hour-long contest will involve international scientific cooperation to announce the latest technology on hyperloop transportation designs. More than 100 people have enrolled as part of teams from many scientific and engineering international enterprises. Six teams will get a chance to explain their projects in the final stage to the judges.
Dubai is hosting this worldwide event as part of the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Ruler of Dubai, Prime Minister and Vice-President of the UAE, to make Dubai and the UAE a global platform for innovative minds to come together and create futuristic solutions on issues of relevance to humanity, said Mohammed Al Gergawi, Managing Director of the Dubai Future Foundation and Vice-Chairman of the Board of Trustees.
Gergawi said this contest is a great opportunity to explore innovative ideas in the smart transportation sector. The development of future transportation solutions will change the way people manage their daily tasks and how they work or commute, considering that the world is witnessing a technical revolution that involves robotics, self-driving cars, and 3D printing.
Gergawi added, “This will eventually lead to massive global economic growth, and we aim to keep pace with the rapid developments by focusing on smart application of services and innovation in all fields.”
Aiming to make travel autonomous
Mattar Al Tayer, who is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Dubai Future Foundation and the Chairman and Director General of the Board of Directors of Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), explained that the Dubai Autonomous Transportation Strategy aims to transform 25% of the overall commuting trips to autonomous mode (self-driving mode), which should turn Dubai into a global laboratory for next-generation tech.
Al Tayer said the RTA has recently started trial runs of the first automated smart vehicle as part of Dubai’s strategy to shift to autonomous transportation. The driverless vehicle can accommodate up to 10 passengers.
The hyperloop is a dream project of the man behind Tesla and SpaceX, Elon Musk. The Tesla CEO made the technology patent-free to encourage more participation around this futuristic concept. The hyperloop integrates a low-pressure pipe connecting two stations to enable passenger capsules within the pipe to travel at speeds of up to 1,200 kilometers per hour. Experts believe the cost of developing hyperloop pipes could eventually be cheaper than making conventional high-speed trains.
