Research Frontiers

Keio University SDM students participate in the Hyperloop Loop Competition

Hidekazu Nishimura, Professor
Graduate School of System Design and Management (SDM), Keio University

July 17, 2018

Hidekazu Nishimura
Researcher video (223 seconds)

Hidekazu Nishimura, Professor, Graduate School of System Design and Management (SDM) , Keio University.

SDM offers education and research programs based on system engineering and project management. "Our wide-ranging projects emphasize research activities that are aiming at tackling the wide range of complicated problems in society," says Prof. Nishimura. "Projects include automated driving of automobiles, wearable terminals for healthcare, and disaster prevention systems based on location information."

To achieve their goals of solving complicated problems, it is necessary to nurture diverse talent. This diversity is reflected in the wide range of backgrounds of master's and doctoral course students at SDM, including working adults, new graduates, and international students.

It was a group of students who proposed launching a Hyperloop project, which was readily approved by SDM.

"Although this project was originally proposed as a competition by Elon Musk, I think that we are participating in it to design transportation systems of the future based on solid concepts," explains Nishimura. "SDM is giving its full support to the students involved in the Hyperloop project."

"The students involved in this project are gaining the valuable experience of working in a team in an international competition. For society in general, such activities offer insights into transportation systems of the future and the value of the movement of people and goods. It is a very important research project."

By supporting these activities, SDM wants to contribute to nurturing students who will shape the future of Japan and the world. "We regard the Hyperloop project as a major mission of SDM."


Contact
Keio University Global Research Institute (KGRI)
2-15-45 Mita, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-8345 Japan
E-mail : kgri@info.keio.ac.jp
http://www.kgri.keio.ac.jp/en/index.html

Further information
Hidekazu Nishimura, Professor
Graduate School of System Design and Management (SDM), Keio University.
https://k-ris.keio.ac.jp/html/100013197_en.html

Recent research

As of July 17, 2018
Hidekazu Nishimura's research activities include universal design for personal mobility and public transport, dynamical systems control and simulations, model-driven systems

development using SysML (Systems Modeling Language), and small satellite design for natural disaster mitigation. Important publications include:

  1. Noriaki Itagaki, Hidekazu Nishimura, Kiyoshi Takagi, Two-Degree-of-Freedom Control System Design in Consideration of Actuator Saturation, IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, 13, pp.470- 475, (2008).
  2. Makoto Kato, Hidekazu Nishimura, Taro Shimogo, Injury Protection of Occupant's Legs with Feedback Control for Active Knee Bolster, Review of Automotive Engineering, 29, pp.357-362 (2008).
  3. Shaopeng Zhu, Hidekazu Nishimura, Shunsuke Iwashita and Hiroshi Tajima, Dynamical Analysis of Motorcycle by Multibody Dynamics Approach, Journal of System Design and Dynamics, 2 , No. 3 Special Issue on Nonlinear Dynamics in Mechanical Systems, pp. 703-714 (2008).

Burning to go at the Hyperloop Project competition

Yoshiaki Ohkami
Advisor, Keio Alpha Project, Keio SDM

Yoshiaki Ohkami
Researcher video (227 seconds)

Yoshiaki Ohkami, Advisor, Keio Alpha Project, Keio SDM.

The Hyperloop Project is the fifth generation transportation system proposed by Elon Musk, ―the man who will make the future. The vehicles run on the ground at a tremendous speed aiming to exceed the speed of sound, with the goal to realize vehicles that travel between San Francisco and Los Angeles in less than 30 mins and Tokyo and Osaka in around 25 minutes

"To achieve this goal Elon Musk organized 'the hyperloop competition' and asked researchers and students from around the world to propose ideas, techniques," says Yoshiaki Ohkami. "The preliminary competitions were carried out in January and August last year (2017). Only students from Keio University SDM passed the stringent requirements and are the only participants from Asia." The vehicle developed by Keio University has received performed well at preliminary competitions and received great praise from Space X company.

Importantly, the Keio Alpha Project will compete in finals that will be held in the USA in July 2018. The team will be aiming for maximum speed. Since a team from Germany has already achieved 350 km/h in the second competition, Keio is working on experiments aiming at 450 km/h.

"The students are the main players in this project," say Ohkami. "The international students are particularly enthusiastic, and I assisting them."

The large room shown in the video is the SDM workshop for carrying out experiments during the development of the vehicle--excellent facilities at Keio University.

"We are confident that we will do well in the competition. JAXA, JAMSTEC, and many other companies have agreed to support us. This is a huge project, which is strongly supported by everyone. So we are 'burning to go!'"

Contact
Keio University Global Research Institute (KGRI)
2-15-45 Mita, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-8345 Japan
E-mail : kgri@info.keio.ac.jp
http://www.kgri.keio.ac.jp/en/index.html