Warwick students in submarine speed record attempt

A group of University of Warwick students intend to create a single-seat human-powered submarine which will beat the current speed record.

The submarine, to be named HPS Shakespeare, will compete at the European International Submarine Races in 2014, which is apparently the highlight of the human-powered submarine events calendar.

Working closely with fellow competitors at Bath University, the students have established a mutually beneficial partnership allowing them to learn from one another and manufacture a potentially competition winning submarine.

The Sub Aqua Society at the University of Warwick has also offered the team advice on diving.

HPS Shakespeare will need to beat a speed of 7.03 knots, or 8.09mph to achieve its aim.

Cole Soutter, Engineering student and member of the University of Warwick team, said: “There are a multitude of challenges we face in the design, manufacture and testing of the submarine as well as organisational aspects such as sponsorship and costing.

“But the biggest challenge is putting it all together to produce a submarine that has both speed and manoeuvrability to take on competitors whilst having the agility to navigate the slalom course.

“We hope our entry emerges victorious in the race and in at least one of the award categories for speed, agility and innovation.”

The original record was set by a submarine called Omer 8 and was built by students of the École de Technologie Supérieure in Montreal. It was set at the last Submarine Races in 2012.

The school beat speed records for both the two-seater and one-seater (non-propeller) categories, and won the overall prize based on all judged criteria.

The team from the University of Warwick aims to better the Canadian school’s design by ensuring that the submarine’s hull will not actually be watertight; so the pilot will be required to wear scuba equipment.

The pilot will also be required to lie horizontally in the submarine to maximise underwater power transfer, by pedaling to power the propellers.

Safety features are also very important and the team intends to use a strobe light in order to make it easy to see underwater.

The team is supervised by Dr Ian Tuersley at WMG, who is pleased with the team’s activities and efforts so far, commenting: “The group project that they undertake aims to get students from the various engineering disciplines working together – much as they would need to in real industries and businesses after graduation.

“These ‘design and build’ competitions provide an additional incentive to produce a functional, finished product within set constraints and to an enforced deadline. Warwick’s engineering students have done very well in other, similar competitions in recent years and we are hoping for a good result with this as well.”

The University of Warwick’s project team are still looking for sponsorship to secure the manufacture of HMS Shakespeare.