TU Delft’s Nuna Solar Car may have grabbed some big headlines, but the TU’s Wasub human-powered submarine team is also enjoying great international success. This year, the Wasub II team is aiming to smash the ‘absolute speed’ world record for human-powered subs.
Delen
It all began at the Design Synthesis Exercise (DSE) in 2004, when a group of eleven students was given the task of designing a human-powered submarine to compete in the 8th International Submarine Race. One year later, and the Wasub I team returned home triumphant from this race at the US Naval Surface Warfare Center in Bethesda, Maryland, winners in 6 of the 11 categories, including Best Overall Performance and the Industrial Espionage Award.
Wasub I set a world record on the 100-meter track, winning the 1-person category with a top speed of 6.903 knots. The two-person Omer 5 sub from Montreal, Canada won the overall speed category however, clocking 7.061 knots. While the absolute speed record set by Omer 4 back in 2001 (7.192 knots) remains unbeaten.
Philip Poppe, 23, an aerospace engineering student from Belgium and a Wasub team member since June 2004, explained how a human-powered sub works and discussed the challenges the multi-nationality team and Wasub II face in the year ahead:
What’s a human-powered submarine actually like?
“It’s definitely not for claustrophobics! The pilot lays face down with his feet on the pedals and hands on the steering wheel and the Dead Man’s Switch, while breathing compressed air from the air bottles placed between his arms.”
Why compressed air?
“The Wasub is a ‘wet’ design, meaning the fuselage is completely flooded, for safety reasons. If the pilot releases the Dead Man’s Switch, an emergency buoy surfaces and divers rush to the rescue. If the submarine were pressurized, it’d be much more difficult to reach the pilot in an emergency.”
How do the mechanisms work in a flooded submarine?
“The transmission is divided in two parts: the part that transforms the circular movement of the pilot legs to the drive shaft, and secondly, the hub which is attached to the drive shafts and houses the electronic system that controls the variable pitch system. The two propeller blades are mounted at the end of the hub.”
What part did you play in the design of the sub?
“I was part of the propulsion team, working on the variable pitch mechanics. We have designed the whole system to operate with maximum efficiency at low rpm. The transmission system is adaptable, meaning it is variably optimized, for each of the several pilots we had. The propeller is designed for optimal efficiency with human propulsion, its pitch coupled to the rpms, automatically adapting the propeller angle of attack with changing speeds.”
Your team also won the Team Spirit Award. What is it like to work in a mixed Dutch-Belgian-Italian-Canadian team?
“Well, sometimes the Dutch needed to be told that ‘we’ve talked enough, now lets go and actually build it!’ The discussion culture here is much more elaborated than in Belgium, but with four Belgians on the team, we were able to exert enough influence.”
Will Wasub be entering next year’s competition?
“Certainly, we’re not done yet. The Absolute Speed Record still must be beaten, and of course beating the Omer team is our main goal. Our new team has lots of areas to improve, like the electronics. The pilot of Wasub II will finally have an rpm indicator. And we have a few more tricks up our sleeve as well.”
According to Ruben de Bruin, interim team leader of Wasub 2006, other possible improvements to next year’s Wasub II will be an auto-pilot system, a wireless connection to the land crew and a web-cam, better outer surface finishing, new fins and an improved prop.
Wasub II has started 2006 on a good foot, with five new members joining the now complete team, including Femke Kessels, the new team leader. Although the majority of team members are Aerospace students, the team is truly inter-facular and multi-national, with Dutch, Belgian and Egyptian members. The five Belgian team members are sure to push the ‘let’s go and build it’ mentality into 2006 as well!
From the Wasub website one can download excellent underwater video footage, and Wasub II’s new hull is now ready and on display in the hangar at the Aerospace Engineering Faculty. The new design for Wasub II will be officially presented in March.
Wasub I preparing to submerge (Photo: courtesy of Wasub)
It all began at the Design Synthesis Exercise (DSE) in 2004, when a group of eleven students was given the task of designing a human-powered submarine to compete in the 8th International Submarine Race. One year later, and the Wasub I team returned home triumphant from this race at the US Naval Surface Warfare Center in Bethesda, Maryland, winners in 6 of the 11 categories, including Best Overall Performance and the Industrial Espionage Award.
Wasub I set a world record on the 100-meter track, winning the 1-person category with a top speed of 6.903 knots. The two-person Omer 5 sub from Montreal, Canada won the overall speed category however, clocking 7.061 knots. While the absolute speed record set by Omer 4 back in 2001 (7.192 knots) remains unbeaten.
Philip Poppe, 23, an aerospace engineering student from Belgium and a Wasub team member since June 2004, explained how a human-powered sub works and discussed the challenges the multi-nationality team and Wasub II face in the year ahead:
What’s a human-powered submarine actually like?
“It’s definitely not for claustrophobics! The pilot lays face down with his feet on the pedals and hands on the steering wheel and the Dead Man’s Switch, while breathing compressed air from the air bottles placed between his arms.”
Why compressed air?
“The Wasub is a ‘wet’ design, meaning the fuselage is completely flooded, for safety reasons. If the pilot releases the Dead Man’s Switch, an emergency buoy surfaces and divers rush to the rescue. If the submarine were pressurized, it’d be much more difficult to reach the pilot in an emergency.”
How do the mechanisms work in a flooded submarine?
“The transmission is divided in two parts: the part that transforms the circular movement of the pilot legs to the drive shaft, and secondly, the hub which is attached to the drive shafts and houses the electronic system that controls the variable pitch system. The two propeller blades are mounted at the end of the hub.”
What part did you play in the design of the sub?
“I was part of the propulsion team, working on the variable pitch mechanics. We have designed the whole system to operate with maximum efficiency at low rpm. The transmission system is adaptable, meaning it is variably optimized, for each of the several pilots we had. The propeller is designed for optimal efficiency with human propulsion, its pitch coupled to the rpms, automatically adapting the propeller angle of attack with changing speeds.”
Your team also won the Team Spirit Award. What is it like to work in a mixed Dutch-Belgian-Italian-Canadian team?
“Well, sometimes the Dutch needed to be told that ‘we’ve talked enough, now lets go and actually build it!’ The discussion culture here is much more elaborated than in Belgium, but with four Belgians on the team, we were able to exert enough influence.”
Will Wasub be entering next year’s competition?
“Certainly, we’re not done yet. The Absolute Speed Record still must be beaten, and of course beating the Omer team is our main goal. Our new team has lots of areas to improve, like the electronics. The pilot of Wasub II will finally have an rpm indicator. And we have a few more tricks up our sleeve as well.”
According to Ruben de Bruin, interim team leader of Wasub 2006, other possible improvements to next year’s Wasub II will be an auto-pilot system, a wireless connection to the land crew and a web-cam, better outer surface finishing, new fins and an improved prop.
Wasub II has started 2006 on a good foot, with five new members joining the now complete team, including Femke Kessels, the new team leader. Although the majority of team members are Aerospace students, the team is truly inter-facular and multi-national, with Dutch, Belgian and Egyptian members. The five Belgian team members are sure to push the ‘let’s go and build it’ mentality into 2006 as well!
From the Wasub website one can download excellent underwater video footage, and Wasub II’s new hull is now ready and on display in the hangar at the Aerospace Engineering Faculty. The new design for Wasub II will be officially presented in March.
Wasub I preparing to submerge (Photo: courtesy of Wasub)
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