# A tube train? That's IT?!! (Elon Musk's Hyperloop) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 12, 2013, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-tube-train-thats-it-elon-musks-hyperloop/666085 "2013-08-12T23:26:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![deltasigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@deltasigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltasigma)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-tube-train-thats-it-elon-musks-hyperloop/666085/41 "2013-08-14T04:00:40Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > Bit of a hijack but the wheel chair that grew out of the Segway was pretty cool. Really really expensive, but very cool. It ran on 4 wheels and could stand up on 2 to elevate the rider. > > Count me among those who rolled their eyes when the actual idea came out for a tube train. We’ll see a ramjet sub-orbital plane before that happens. I could easily have the timeline wrong, but I have a memory of the prototype (never saw or even knew it got any further) of such a wheelchair before the Segway came out. The one I’m thinking of could climb stairs which I think was the real claim to fame it had. It did have more than 4 wheels though unless you count what were really wheel trucks at each corner as “wheels.” ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-tube-train-thats-it-elon-musks-hyperloop/666085/42 "2013-08-14T05:25:11Z")
> [@deltasigma](#): > > I could easily have the timeline wrong, but I have a memory of the prototype (never saw or even knew it got any further) of such a wheelchair before the Segway came out. The one I’m thinking of could climb stairs which I think was the real claim to fame it had. It did have more than 4 wheels though unless you count what were really wheel trucks at each corner as “wheels.” You are correct. Researching it I found the [Segway](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Segway_PT)was an outgrowth of the gyro system of the [ibot](http://wheelchairrevolution.blogspot.com/2006/12/historyoftheibot-1982-dean-kamen.html). Not sure which made it to market first because the ibot went through an FDA approval process. It was was shown first on TV in 1999 and the Segway in 2001. I didn’t see the chair until after the Segway and I think I saw the inventor Dean Kamen using it at the Oshkosh air show. He was going out of his way to drive through grass and such. At the time I remember thinking it looked like the guy was giving it a test run. He wasn’t interested in fielding any questions either. Sadly it’s out of production and they will cease servicing the ibot at the end of 2013. You could buy a car for what it costs which makes me wonder if it could be made as a joint venture in a number of countries and companies. They need only license the gyro and computer. Everything else should be parts easily manufactured. If they can’t keep something as useful as the ibot in production I don’t see any tube-trains in the near future. ---
**Author:** ![deltasigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@deltasigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltasigma)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-tube-train-thats-it-elon-musks-hyperloop/666085/43 "2013-08-14T05:52:55Z")
Huh. I almost never get timelines right. I think I was wrong about the wheels though. That looks more familiar. Must have forgotten how it actually worked (and imagined something else). Anyway, there might be some hope but you can probably find more up to date info than what’s in [this Wikipedia link](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBOT). > [@](#): > > In 2010, one organization was trying to revive the manufacture and maintenance of the iBOT Mobility System. America’s Huey 091 Foundation is an organization that provides advanced mobility devices, which used to include the iBOT, to wounded disabled veterans. The foundation’s goal is to help revive the manufacture of a new generation of iBOT and if possible to manufacture, sell, and maintain some using a veteran owned and operated organization. > > In 2011, Dean Kamen, the inventor of the iBOT, stated his support of America’s Huey 091 Foundation’s effort to reinstate iBOT production.[2] Didn’t see any updates at the [site you eventually link to though](http://www.huey091foundation.org/iBOT.aspx). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-tube-train-thats-it-elon-musks-hyperloop/666085.md?page=2)