Hyperloop Built By 3D Printing: Original Elon Musk Design Printed To Scale In 24 Hours [VIDEO]

Elon Musk, the founder and CEO of Tesla Motors Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) and SpaceX, recently unveiled his design for the Hyperloop, a new transportation system that will be able to transport people between Los Angeles and San Francisco in just 35 minutes, if his claims prove true. After giving the public an idea of what the Hyperloop and the technology that makes it possible would look like, Musk said he's too busy to actually build the Hyperloop and encouraged others to take on the project.

The team at WhiteClouds, a 3D printing lab in Ogden, Utah, has risen to the challenge, but only on a miniature scale. Using 3D printing, WhiteClouds built a scale model of the Hyperloop in just 24 hours.

A team of five at WhiteClouds used images released by Musk to design 3D models of various Hyperloop components. One person created the elevated tubes and pillars to support them, for example, while another created the transport capsules that run through the tubes.

Three different 3D printers were used, and the full-color Hyperloop models seen in the images below are the result.

“This technology minimizes the time it takes to create a working object,” Jerry Ropelato, WhiteClouds CEO, said on the company’s website. “3D printing opens the doors to create something original to everyone.”

A Canadian designer recently showed how it would be possible and cost-effective to build a Hyperloop. With 3D printing advancing so quickly, it might make sense just to construct the full Hyperloop with a 3D printer.