[PSUBS-MAILIST] Introducing myself, and a laundry list of questions

Tue Jul 4 17:04:39 EDT 2023

Hi Kamil.

Welcome! The K250 and K350 were both intended as one person subs, but they
can also be set up for two. Here's an example of a 2-person K250:

http://www.psubs.org/projects/1234567810/snoopyin2012/
https://vimeo.com/195804786

Best,
Alec

On Tue, Jul 4, 2023 at 3:03 PM Kamil Żebrowski via Personal_Submersibles <
personal_submersibles at psubs.org> wrote:

> Is the K-250 2 men sub? I was always thinking that this is 1 person sub.
>
> Wysłane z iPhone'a
>
> Wiadomość napisana przez Alec Smyth via Personal_Submersibles <
> personal_submersibles at psubs.org> w dniu 29.06.2023, o godz. 02:35:
>
> 
> Hi Mikael,
>
> Welcome! Great start with your reading list, and especially with your
> field of study. I realize that being in college, most likely you may not be
> at the stage of life in which you can actually build a sub just yet (though
> who knows, Karl Stanley started when he was about 14.) If the budget,
> skills, facilities, etc. seem overwhelming, there is still an awful lot you
> can do now that will speed things up when the time is right. To begin with,
> I'd make a point of tagging along at PSUBS events so you can actually see
> subs in operation and maybe go for a dive. Pick up skills that you know
> you'll need. In fact, you might have facilities at university for machining
> and welding, that might be harder to come by after you've graduated. You
> can also invest time  developing a detailed CAD design, which will speed
> things up later, and generate the documentation needed for subcontracting
> parts you aren't comfortable making yourself. Even if you design your own
> sub, I'd suggest starting with a set of Kittredge plans. It's a proven
> design, and works perfectly as is even if you could optionally make
> incremental improvements. When you do eventually start building, you can
> begin with lots of smaller yet time-consuming parts (e.g. lights,
> scrubbers) that will go into the eventual sub. That would let you get
> through a lot of the labor without yet having big expenditures or
> facilities.
>
> People here are always willing to help, whether with ideas or by peer
> review.
>
> Best,
> Alec
>
>
>
> On Wed, Jun 28, 2023 at 6:15 PM Alan James via Personal_Submersibles <
> personal_submersibles at psubs.org> wrote:
>
>> Hello Mikael,
>> welcome along to the group.
>> You have made a good start with the reading material you have.
>> One of the items on the sub, the acrylic dome, can be expensive & hard to
>> come by. It gives a much better viewing experience than a cheaper flat view
>> port. I would
>> have a good look at that at some stage.
>> You can buy plans for a K250 or K350 submersible. Both 2 person & capable
>> of 250ft & 350ft operating depth.
>> Be aware that the plans are out of date & you would need to rely on the
>> group for up to date options.
>> There is a site "Guernsey submarine" with hundreds of pictures
>> documenting a K350 build. Well worth looking at to see what you are getting
>> in to.
>> If you dont have a conning tower it is difficult to get in and out of the
>> sub with a wave running.
>> You need a substantial trailer & often an extension bar to be able to
>> float the sub off the trailer. I heard someone say they could only launch
>> off 1 in 5 boat ramps; they tend to end before the sub floats off.
>> An option if you are shallow diving is to build an ambient sub. I did
>> this as a prelude to a 1atm sub to test my design. An ambient sub is
>> pressurized on the inside to the same pressure as the water at the depth
>> you are at. So you dont need a strong hull or acrylic dome. It is quite
>> cheap and relatively easy to make but a lot more dangerous than a 1atm. You
>> would need to do a scuba course, as  you are sitting dry but in a bubble of
>> compressed air and subject to the same decompression laws as divers. Also
>> there is limited life support time compared with a 1atm & you would need to
>> get out & head for the surface if you were entrapped etc. The other down
>> side with an ambient is that all your electronic inside the hull are under
>> pressure, so items like large capacitors need protecting.
>> I can give you more information if you are interested. And there will be
>> some pictures of my build on the psub website under members projects. BTW I
>> controlled it with a PS2 controller so beat Stockton to that one.
>> Alan
>> Regards
>>
>>
>> Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android
>> <https://mail.onelink.me/107872968?pid=nativeplacement&c=Global_Acquisition_YMktg_315_Internal_EmailSignature&af_sub1=Acquisition&af_sub2=Global_YMktg&af_sub3=&af_sub4=100000604&af_sub5=EmailSignature__Static_>
>>
>> On Thu, 29 Jun 2023 at 9:40 am, via Personal_Submersibles
>> <personal_submersibles at psubs.org> wrote:
>>
>> Hello, all,
>>
>>
>>
>> First things first, I’d like to introduce myself. I’m Mikael, a college
>> student studying mechanical engineering. I’ve had an interest in building
>> my own submarine for about 3 years now, after building small ROVs with my
>> robotics team and competing in the MATE championship.
>>
>>
>>
>> The sub I want to build is a 1atm submarine that can carry 1-2 people and
>> dive to about 150-200ft. The main purpose of this would be an engineering
>> challenge to myself.
>>
>>    1. What general advice would you give me to get started?
>>    2. How do I do this safely? I think I need to address the elephant in
>>    the room of the recent Titan tragedy – how do I avoid having that happen to
>>    me? There’s the obvious, design with plenty of safety factor, build in
>>    redundancy to life support and surfacing systems, etc. What else do I need
>>    to be aware of? In particular, what are the less obvious/more obscure
>>    issues that might crop up?
>>    3. What skills do I need to pick up before embarking on this project?
>>    I have a little bit of experience with machining, I’d need to get better to
>>    make parts I’d trust with my life. I can only assume I’d need to learn to
>>    weld. Are other skills like SCUBA necessary? Do I need to learn HAM radio
>>    for any communications devices?
>>    4. Ballpark, how much would this cost to build? To operate? What
>>    costs are involved in the process that I likely wouldn’t expect?
>>    5. How do you source/fabricate your pressure hulls? I’ve heard of
>>    people using propane tanks, but also that doing so isn’t really the
>>    recommended strategy, because detailed information on them is scarce. I
>>    have no idea how else you’d fabricate something like that on a hobbyist
>>    budget.
>>    6. What books/reference material should I pick up? So far I’ve picked
>>    up Manned Submersibles, Concepts in Submarine Design, as well as the ABS
>>    rulebook and the Design, Construction, and Operating Guidelines from the
>>    PSUBS website.
>>    7. What other questions should I be asking?
>>
>>
>>
>> Thank you very much for any help you can provide! I know that’s a lot of
>> questions.
>>
>>
>>
>> - Mikael
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