| Inductrack Articles |
Inductrack is a completely passive magnetic levitation train system, using only unpowered loops of wire in the track and permanent magnets (in Halbach arrays) on the train to achieve levitation. Inductrack was invented by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory physicist Richard E Post. The only power required is to push the train forward, with increasing levitation force generated as the velocity of the train increases over the loops of wire.
The following is a mixture of media articles and technical reports about Inductrack, all in Acrobat pdf format.
- Inductrack Demonstration Model, by Richard Post, February 3, 1998,
- Forget Superconducting Maglevs, by Scott Gourley, May 1998, Popular Mechanics
- Traveling over the Rail, by Scott Gourley, May 1998, Popular Mechanics
- A New Approach for Magnetically Levitating Trains and Rockets, June 1998, Science and Technology Review
- Magnets put Scientist on Right Track, by J.N. Sbranti, July 28, 1998, Modesto Bee
- Passive Magnetic Bearnings, by Jim Wilson, September 1999, Popular Mechanics
- The Inductrack: A Simpler Approach to Magnetic Levitation, September 1999
- Maglev: A New Approach, by Richard Post, January 2000, Scientific American
- Induction for the Birds, by Barbara Wolcott, February 2000, American Society of Mechanical Engineers
- LLNL Inductrack Progress Report, by Tony Louann, March 8, 2000
- The Inductrack Approach to Magnetic Levitation, by Richard Post, April 2000
- Low Speed Maglev Technology Development Program, March 2002, DOT-CA-26-7025-02.1
- Magnetic Levitation — Transportation for the 21st Century?, by Jonathan Jacobs, Spring 2002, Harvard Science Review
- Overview of the General Atomics Low Speed Urban Maglev Technology Development Program, by Sam Gurol, Bob Baldi, and Richard Post, June 17, 2002
- Technology Development for U.S. Urban Maglev, by Kim I., Kratz R., and Doll D., Maglev 2002, Lausanne, Switzerland, September 4-8, 2002
- Ticket to Ride, by Paul Sharke, American Society of Mechanical Engineering, October 2002
- The General Atomics Low Speed Urban Maglev Technology Development Program, by Sam Gurol, Bob Baldi, and Richard Post, 2003
- 2003 New Starts — Authorizations for Final Design and Construction, Airbourne Shuttle System, Pittsburgh, PA
- Hallbach Arrays Enter the Maglev Race, April 2003, The Industrial Physicist
- Maglev on the Development Track for Urban Transportation, by Arnie Heller, November 2003, LLNL Science & Technology
- New Approach to Levitating Trains, by Arnie Heller, January 20, 2004, Impactlab
- The Inductrack: A Home-Grown Maglev System for Our Nation, by Richard Post, April 15, 2004
- The Quest for Energy, by Margaret Lovell, June-July 2004, The National Journal of Technology Commericalization
- A train without the daily grind, by Bruce V. Bigelow, August 3, 2004, San Diego Union Tribune
- Creating an Urban Maglev Industry, by David O'Loughlin, Fall 2004, Pittsburgh Engineer
- Urban Maglev Integrated Guideway Girder Module, by Mandyam Venkatesh and Phil Jeter, October 2004
- A Laminated Track for the Inductrack System: Theory and Experiment, by J.F. Hoburg, and Richard Post, October 2004
- Linear Synchronous Motor Control for an Urban Maglev, by David Doll, Robert Kratz, Michael Newman, Allan Plunkett, and Robert Blevins, October 2004
- Magnetically Levitated Train Takes Flight, by Gabriele Rennie, October 2004, LLNL Science & Technology
- Maglev: Transportation of the Future? by Marie Balestreire and John Hollenberger, April 9, 2005, Fifth Annual Freshman Conference
- General Atomics Low Speed Maglev Technology Development Program (Supplemental #3), May 2005, Final Report, FTA-CA-26-7025.2005
- Toward More Efficient Transport: The Inductrack Maglev System, by Richard Post, October 10, 2005
- Discrete Track Electrodynamic Maglev, Part I: Modeling, by Ove F. Storset and Bradley E. Paden, UC Santa Barbara, Mechanical and Environmental Engineering Department
- Electrodynamic Magnetic Levitation with Discrete Track, Part II: Periodic Track Model for Numerical Simulation and Lumped Parameter Model, by Ove F. Storset and Bradley E. Paden, UC Santa Barbara, Mechanical and Environmental Engineering Department
- General Atomics Urban Maglev Test Track Status, by Husam Gurol and Robert Baldi, September 2005, The Fifth International Symposium on Linear Drives for Industry Applications, LDIA2005
- General Atomics Urban Maglev Program Status, by Sam Gurol, Bob Baldi, and Richard Post, September 2006, The 19th International Conference on Magnetically Levitated Systems and Linear Drives, Dresden, Germany
- Guideway Steel Fiber Reinforced Concrete Hybrid Girder Design, by Mandyam Venkatesh and Philip Jeter, September 2006, The 19th International Conference on Magnetically Levitated Systems and Linear Drives, Dresden, Germany
- General Atomics Urban Maglev - Stable Levitation, Propulsion and Guidance, by Philip Jeter, In-Kun Kim, Daryl Bever, David Doll, Corey Jaskolski, September 2006, The 19th International Conference on Magnetically Levitated Systems and Linear Drives, Dresden, Germany
- Electric Cargo Conveyor (ECCO) System Data Sheet, July 2006, General Atomics
- Conceptual Design Study for the Electric Cargo Conveyor (ECCO) System Final Report, October 26, 2006, prepared for The Port of Los Angeles
- Ports Considering Maglev Trains to Cut Smog, by Dan Weikel, Los Angles Times, November 28, 2006
- Maglev Freight Conveyor Systems, by Dr. Kenneth James, California State University at Long Beach, 2007.
- Maglev and Linear Motors for Southern California Transportation, February 8, 2007, Presentation to SCAG Maglev Task Force
- The Electric Cargo Conveyor System (ECCO) Presentation, by Center for the Commercial Deployment of Transportation Technologies, at the SCAG Maglev Group Meeting, August 9, 2007
The following U.S. patents have been issued on various aspects of Inductrack:
- U.S. Patent 5,722,326 Magnetic levitation system for moving objects, Richard Post, March 3, 1998
- U.S. Patent 6,629,503 Inductrack configuration, Richard Post, October 7, 2003
- U.S. Patent 6,633,217 Inductrack magnet configuration, Richard Post, October 14, 2003
- U.S. Patent 6,664,880 Inductrack magnet configuration, Richard Post, December 16, 2003
- U.S. Patent 6,758,146 Laminated track design for inductrack maglev systems, Richard Post, July 6, 2004
- U.S. Patent 6,816,052 Track litz rungs and shorting bar design for urban maglev inductrack and method for making the same, Edward Ziegler, November 9, 2004
- U.S. Patent 6,827,022 Magnetic levitation and propulsion system, van den Bergh, Robert Kratz, Philip Jeter, December 7, 2004
- U.S. Patent 7,096,794 Inductrack configuration, Richard Post, August 29, 2006