It's been in a busy few weeks for SUHPS! Not only have we said goodbye to Tempest as it gets shipped to Washington for ISR15, we've elected our new committee! This new team of engineers (with a few familiar faces) will be leading us to EISR next year, congratulations to all of them!
Before we think about that, we're joining Tempest in the USA this June to compete with the best human powered submarines in the world. We can't wait to show you our hard work in action!
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University of Southampton team to test human-powered submarine at Dosthill QuarryTheir unique submarine looks primed to succeed in gruelling race against universities from around the world at the European International Submarine Races. The submarine, the UoSS Nauti Buoy, is undergoing rigorous testing in Dosthill Quarry on the 21st and 22nd April. The Southampton University Human-Powered Submarine society (SUHPS) is made up of around 50 students from the University of Southampton, who have spent the last eight months designing, building and now testing a human-powered submarine. They are shortly to qualify for the fourth biennial European International Submarine Races (eISR18), held over the first two weeks of July in QinetiQ’s Ocean Basin, Gosport. The rules of the sport are straightforward: teams must design, build and race flooded submarines piloted by a single scuba diver, who is fully enclosed within the hull of the machine. All propulsive power must be provided by the diver during the race, but otherwise the designs are left open to the limits of imagination. This combination of design constraints and design freedom matches the challenges confronted in real-world engineering projects and has led to pioneering and ground-breaking designs. The UoSS Nauti Buoy underwent initial testing in February (VIDEO), and is now coming to Dosthill Quarry for extensive testing in the large open-water space. The race course at eISR18 is a slalom, so it is essential for the team to perfect the submarine’s turning capabilities and Dosthill offers the ideal venue. The team hope to get the submarine underway and the pilots initiated on Saturday 21st April, and to build up some speed and practise turns on Sunday 22nd April. The weekend promises to be jam-packed with excitement, as the University of Warwick’s team are bringing their submarine too. “SUHPS are a team of students with a passion for racing submarines. We design, manufacture, test and race submarines internationally every year. This summer we are attending our first European submarine races and are keen to further our previous successes at the International Submarine Races last summer. We would like to say a huge thank you to all our sponsors and supporters who have donated and continue to donate to our crowdfunding, as well as the University of Southampton for their continued support. Human-powered submarine is an amazing project which provides many opportunities for students. It's exciting to be able to demonstrate our hard work so close to home. We hope we can make our university and our supporters proud.” Joanna Forrester, President The UoSS Nauti Buoy is exceptional in two main ways; the first being the contra rotating propeller system. A contra rotating propeller works by having two propellers, one in front of the other, but spinning in opposite directions - allowing for greater efficiency from the pilot and thus an increase in speed. The second is the use of a bow thruster on the nose of the submarine, which will allow it to make sharper turns than if using a conventional steering system - meaning that it will be easier for the pilot to navigate round the race course. A bow thruster works by having a tube with a propeller in the middle, which, powered by another system, rotates. This forces the water out of the tube from one end, causing the submarine to turn.
The transmission system has a 4:1 gear ratio, increasing pilot power and the effectiveness of the propeller. To turn as tight as possible there are also rudders at the back of the submarine. The rudders are very close to the propellers and far away from the nose, so a small change in rudders will cause a big change in direction. These systems are important, but wouldn't be able to work without other main systems which have been engineered to maximise pilot power and control. All these innovations combined are what makes the UoSS Nauti Buoy such a unique piece of engineering. Southampton’s submarine, the UoSS (University of Southampton Ship) Nauti Buoy is a successor to two other submarines built by the team; the UoSS Orca and the UoSS Kaiju, both of which competed at the International Submarine Races in America (VIDEO). You can support the UoSS Nauti Buoy on its crowdfunder, and keep up to date on Facebook and Twitter. The team is sponsored by The Glad To Be Here Foundation, IGUS and Davall Gears. The races are powered by the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST) and sponsored by QinetiQ, Defence Equipment & Support, Babcock International and Sea Cadets UK. |
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