Human
powered submarines - I know this magazine is about bicycle touring
but some things are just too cool. We're a long way from any kind of
practical pedal powered underwater travel. I thought it was worthy of
a look though.
While
this isn't intended as a comprehensive history of human powered
submarines a little bit of background is needed. The first real
submarines in history were all human powered, but not a great deal
was accomplished with them until modern times. Practical submarines
didn't really come into being until the advent of battery powered
electrical motors. Pedal power is not dead though and there have been
a lot of interesting designs within the last couple decades.
Each
year there is a competition called The International Submarine Race.
It will be held this year June 22-26. Engineering students from
around the world will race their human powered machines underwater
against the clock. For more information you can visit their website
at http://www.isrsubrace.org/.
On
YouTube you can see documentary segments on the 2009 edition of the
race. I thought it was very cool. This is the link for the initial
instalment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xL8UCPPAWEQ.
If you wish to see the entire thing YouTube will run you through the
whole thing from this beginning through to the last part. I found the
whole thing so cool.
The
fastest subs were powered by pedals driving some kind of propeller
but there are alternative systems that are used. I'm including links
to videos about two of them.
The
Bogus Batoid swims through the water like a Manta Ray. I'm a
woodworker and have built a plywood “canoe” and the workmanship
in this submarine is impressive all by itself.
The
other machine was built by the same person as the Bogus Batoid and
it's called Faux Fish. It attempts to mimic the way a fish swims
through the water. While it may be a little impractical a lot can be
learned from the way it behaves in the water. I don't think
practicality is really the objective here anyway. Again the fact that
someone built this and it works is cool enough.
I
admire the effort and imagination put into these efforts. If there is
ever a functional underwater touring model built, you can be sure
we'll be interested.
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