Feature

Students learn from failure ready for 2019 Submarine Races

A team from the University of Southampton working on submarine technology is receiving engineer support and engineering-grade plastic bearings through the igus’ YES (Young Engineers Support) programme. The Southampton University Human Powered Submarine Society (SUHPS) is a group of students that design, build and test human-powered submarines to compete internationally.

04/03/2019 11:27:18

The international races were created to encourage young people to fill the shortfall in marine engineers. Each team designs and builds a unique flooded submarine from scratch to compete in the races every year. The pilot (a single scuba diver) pedals and steers the sub around an obstacle course in a timed race. Founded in 2014, the team competed in its first year at the 2015 International Submarine Races (ISR) in Washington DC with the University Of Southampton Ship (UoSS) Orca. The team returned two years later with the UoSS Kaiju.

The team consists of around 20 undergraduate students studying a range of disciplines including Mechanical Engineering, Mathematics, Oceanography and many more. The team itself is organised into five sub-teams, each of which specialises in one area of design/manufacture. These are: Hull and Life Support; Transmission; Propulsion; Control and Diving.

As the ISR event is held once every two years, to fill the year gap, SUHPS entered the European International Submarine Races (eISR) with UoSS Nauti Buoy, which took place earlier last year in Gosport. Sadly, the team was pipped at the post for qualification, however, it was a good proving ground to prototype major developments for future submarine systems ready for ISR 2019.

Read the full article in the March issue of DPA

Written By Sophia Bell

Sophia Bell is the Group Editor of DPA, Connectivity, and PBSI. She joined the team in 2020 as Assistant Editor after achieving a First-Class Honours BA in English Literature and Film Studies from the University of East Anglia. In her current role, she leads the editorial strategy, driving digital growth and ensuring each title continues to deliver trusted, relevant insight for engineering and manufacturing professionals.