The IronLev® Elevator is a complete product that marks the first step to "democratize” magnetic levitation, so that it can be applied on people movers, monorail shuttles, subway trains and high-speed trains.
IronLev®: the first step into transportation revolution
The transportation revolution starts from Italy.
The first prototype of IronLev® has been unveiled: the new levitation technology allows for reutilizing the traditional rails, lifting the wagons without any energy consumption.
This first full-scale prototype of IronLev® has been presented in Spresiano, Treviso (near Venice, in Italy’s northeastern region): it is a revolutionary technology that allows trains to float over the railroad tracks, without touching them and without the need of electrical power. It is a system capable of slashing public transportation’s maintenance and operating costs, democratizing magnetic levitation.
During this special presentation for the press, it was possible to touch firsthand the future of rail transportation: a wagon loaded with a 2 ton-car was moved with a simple light hand pressure, using the same force needed to lift a small backpack.
IronLev® features all the benefits of magnetic levitation (friction reduction, low noise, very high speeds) without compromising on the infrastructural, energetic or safety sides. And notably, IronLev® makes it possible for the first time to make use of magnetic levitation in existing contexts of application, like high speed trains and urban subways.
“Magnetic levitation is a technology that has been studied for over 50 years” – states IronLev®’s President and co-founder, Adriano Girotto – “and many companies have been unsuccessfully trying to apply it to the public transportation sector, failing due to the enormous setup and maintenance costs of the lines. IronLev solves this key problem, reducing the energy and infrastructural costs and allowing us to reuse and revamp the over 1,5 million kilometers of existing railways, all around the world”.
Differently from the previous maglev systems, IronLev® does not utilize electricity to lift the wagons, bringing remarkable energy savings when compared to both traditional rail systems and to the previous maglev technologies.
reversed U-shaped sliders
The IronLev® architecture is based on a special configuration of magnets that are embedded in reversed U-shaped sliders, wrapping around the rail without touching it, and generating a self-sustaining solution without the need to push electricity into the system. Moreover, by completely surrounding the track, IronLev® sliders eliminate any derailment risk.
IronLev® is a safe system from the environmental perspective too: the magnetic field is entirely restrained in the few centimeters of space between the rail and the track, and does not generate any external interference, respecting both the environment and passengers’ health.
Conceived to revolutionize the rail transportation industry, IronLev® can be applied to many other contexts beside the traditional transportation, including the entertainment industry (monorails, rollercoasters, ropeways), industrial automation, and even automatic parking systems, elevators and next-generation transportation systems.
“Born to reinvent the rail-based transportation, IronLev®enables many more applications of magnetic levitation in many different domains” declares Luca Cesaretti, co-founder of IronLev® “In the past months” – adds Lorenzo Andrea Parrotta, co-founder, – “we are realizing that there is a very transversal attention to this new type of technology. We are gathering very strong interest for the application of IronLev® in several industrial sectors that we were not even thinking of approaching.”
The next steps for the IronLev® technology will include the engineering of a complete and fully functional levitating wagon system. To meet this goal, the technical team is moving towards an agreement with an industrial partner that will support the further developments.
IronLev® was born in IronBox srl, the result of the joint-venture of two Italian companies: Girotto Brevetti, a Treviso based R&D engineering company with over 10 years of experience and Ales Tech, a Pisa-based startup that is actively working in the Hyperloop ecosystem.
For press inquiries please write at press@ironlev.com
Welcome to the post-wheel future. Welcome to IronLev®.
IronLev® introduces a new levitation technology, engineered in Italy, that promises to be the game changer in the mass transportation industry, in a scenario where people and goods will not move on wheels, but where the vehicle will levitate on a magnetic cushion.
The worldwide population is growing, becoming increasingly more urban and with higher mobility needs, demanding efficient ways to commute within and between urban centers. Existing transportation networks are progressively becoming antiquated and congested, with buses, trolleys and subways slowing down year after year. The whole infrastructure relies on a mechanical component that is over 5,000 old: the wheel.
"The wheel has worked well for many centuries because it is not expensive, it is easy to be manufactured and allowed vehicles to move on the basis of fundamental and simple physical principles. We are convinced that the alternative technology for a post-wheel future needs to share the same characteristics in order to succeed" declares Adriano Girotto, one of IronLev's founders.
It is on this premise that IronLev was born.
Technically called "passive ferromagnetic levitation", the IronLev technology is as simple as it is revolutionary. It is based on iron rails, very similar to those currently in use (that can therefore be reutilized) on which vehicles can move by means of a particular passive u-shaped magnetic system not powered by electricity.
The passive u-shaped magnetic system
Differently from costly and technically complex magnetic levitation systems already proposed (including the MagLev for Japanese bullet-trains), IronLev allows for the movement of people and goods in a very fast and extremely safe way while drastically reducing the installment and operation costs. The system does not require energy in order to provide levitation.
Technical simplicity, versatility of use and low costs: these are the key characteristics of the IronLev technology that aims to "democratize levitation" and to be mounted on trolleys, subway cars, high-speed trains and the Hyperloop, the revolutionary transportation system put forward by Elon Musk and currently under development.
"Thanks to the features of our technology and to low and speed independent frictions, we can move a 10 ton wagon with the same force that is needed to lift a 22 lb backpack. And we aim at cutting the infrastructure costs tenfold compared to existing systems" says the other founder Luca Cesaretti.
The field of application of IronLev technology is not only the transport sector but it can be used wherever movement is needed, not needing any wheel. Roller coasters, trolleys for film or television shooting, lifts, automated parking systems, anti-seismic systems, are sectors affected by this new Italian technology. According to the creators, IronLev can also lend in the field of industrial automation.
Behind Ironlev® there is a multidisciplinary team of engineers, IP experts and marketing people with direct experience in high-tech development and commercialization and a successful track-record of patents: Girotto Brevetti has invented and commercialized a series of ground-breaking inventions in the mechanical sector, working side by side with renowned clients like Pirelli and Technogym. Ales Tech is a fast-growing start-up specialized in active suspensions and dynamic control systems, one of the first ventures to work in the Hyperloop emerging sector.
For press inquiries please write at press@ironlev.com
