5 ms·
High-school teen builds one-man submarine for $2,000
- Moto7451 13y agoThis is really neat. I probably drew 100 diagrams of submarine designs as a kid. Kudos to him for actually building one (or four for that matter). I'm curious if the 30ft depth limit is simply a practical safety limit (if you remember back to High School Physics, 33ft of fresh water = 1 atmosphere of pressure) or if he actually worked out the limits of the drainage tubing/joints/skylight/other components. It would be cool if he did a technical writeup.
- Lost_BiomedE 13y ago30ft may be a good safety limit, but the total pressure is the atmosphere plus 1 atmosphere, due to the water, equaling 2atm.
- wicknicks 13y agoBut the additional pressure the sub has to counter is 1atm.
- mischanix 13y agoI'm curious, is that force (2atm:1atm) linear (= 1atm:0atm) or exponential (< 1atm:0atm)?
- m4rkuskk 13y agoIt's linear. The surrounding pressure increases by the following: P=γ*h P=pressure (lb/ft^2) h=height (ft) γ=density (lb/ft^3) water = 62.4lb/ft^3 So if he goes down 33ft, the pressure @33ft will be: Total pressure: 62.4x33 = 2059psf (1atm ≈ 2116.21psf)
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- uvdiv 13y agoWhat physically matters is the pressure difference. 2atm:1atm and 1atm:0atm are the same -- they both exert 1.03 kg-force per square centimeter of wall. If you're asking how does pressure change with depth, it's linear for water. The pressure is just the sum weight of the column of fluid above you. Since water is (basically) incompressible, the density is the same at any depth, so, the fluid weight is proportional to the column height. At ~10 meters, it's 1.03 kgf per cm^2 or 1 atmosphere (on top of one atmosphere of air above, for 2 atmospheres total). It's the opposite for air. That's a compressible gas, so density increases with pressure, which makes pressure an exponential function of altitude. A packet of air is compressed by the air above it, which makes it denser (more mass/volume), so that the pressure below increases at a steeper rate.
- mischanix 13y agoThanks for the explanation. I wasn't intuiting the difference between air and water.
- Lost_BiomedE 13y agoSo is it implied that he tests on the surface by creating a vacuum inside the sub?
- isaacb 13y agoOr even easier, just submerge it without a person inside and see how deep it can go.
- salimmadjd 13y agoI also designed a bunch of submarines and wanted to build one for the masses. Until my friends told me I was crazy and I would kill myself. My final design was using scuba tanks to equalize the internal pressure of the sub with ambient pressure at specific depth. This was a clever design but limited it's usefulness to 30f as well. It simplified the construction of the sub but limited its use as it required depressurization following the same rules applied to SCUBA divers. So at 30ft you could be submerged for a while, but any deeper it limited the time you could remained submerged unless you depressurized before surfacing.
- mtdewcmu 13y agoThe odds of killing yourself with this type of project must be pretty high.
- DanBC 13y agoHis website is linked from the article, but it's worth looking at because it has video and better images. (http://www.justinbeckerman.com/Site/Home.html http://www.justinbeckerman.com/Site/Home.html)
- frozenport 13y agoSounds incredibly dangerous, I hope they have some kind of backup or rescue plan. Also without air tanks he could easily suffocate.
- ErrantX 13y agoRelatively little danger, with the proper care and attention (it pumps oxygen from the surface). Also, watch some of his interviews, he seems very competent. Finally; sometimes a little bit of danger is what makes things worthwhile :)
- frozenport 13y agoImagine trying to get out if the water bursts, especially if you try to go under the current 6 feet.
- dailyrorschach 13y agoI imagine having a small pony bottle in with him would be enough to return to the surface safely. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pony_bottle http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pony_bottle
- ianstallings 13y agoThis is true but with the proper precautions one can take measures to reduce the risk. Never to complete zero of course and it will probably always be relatively dangerous to travel underwater. But it's already dangerous to travel in a minimal atmosphere, in a pressurized vessel, at the speed of a bullet, and it happens everyday via air travel. More work in the field from pioneers like these students will help reduce the risk for future travelers.
- yoster 13y agoIt would be the same as if you were in a car that dropped in a body of water. Do not panic. Let the water fill up the submarine while breathing deep to oxygenate your body just like a swimmer. When enough pressure is gone from the submarine filled with water, open the hatch and swim to freedom. Most people drown in these scenarios because they try to leave before it fills with water and panic sets in.
- ianstallings 13y agoThis is so cool and I've followed others doing similar "personal" submarines. I hope this continues trending and we see more private exploration of the seas. It's quite an engineering feat, analogous to space travel in some ways. The more work done in the field the more the cost will drop and the more accesible it will become. I imagine one day we'll see the ocean in a much different way.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- charlieflowers 13y ago"Hey Ferb, I know what we're gonna do today."
- charlieflowers 13y agoI want to know what kind of school he goes to. His productivity makes me wonder if he is homeschooled or Unschooled. Does anyone know?
- lavezza 13y ago"Mendham High School student Justin Beckerman builds one-man submarine" -from the article (highlights on the side)
- alexvr 13y agoAwesome. Looks dangerous as hell, but I'm sure he'll be fine.
- burritocop 13y agoI personally hope he drowns in it.
- brianbreslin 13y agoThere was a guy at a recent RefreshMiami event who built himself a submarine drone. Thing had a basic AI to let it swim on its own in his pool.
- mongol 13y agoAnother teen that has built a submarine is Håkan Lans (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C3%A5kan_Lans http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C3%A5kan_Lans). He built a submarine that took him close to 100 m deep (I find different sources, 90 - 110 m). This was in 1968 while he was 18-19 years old. He subsequently was drafted to FOA, the Swedish defense research institute, and is probably the most famous (to Swedes in general) now living Swedish inventor.