Human Powered Submarine

2022 • Safety Lead for Student Engineering Competition at Washington D.C.

Description

The International Submarine Races is a competition that challenges teams to design and build human-powered submarines across a straight course. I was the safety lead for the Human Powered Submarine club at the University of Washington during my sophomore year. I led a team of 5 people across different disciplines.

The safety system is designed as a reliable and simple backup for the pilot in case of emergency during the use of the submarine. Our system includes both a pneumatic system, allowing for the team to be alerted for the need for pilot recovery, and to only activate when needed.

The pneumatic system releases the hatch of the submarine and the signal buoy through the loss of pressure after release of the lever which the diver will hold throughout the dive to ensure that they are conscious.