Innovative Deep-Sea Manned Submarine Under Construction

The University of Washington's Applied Physics Laboratory is teaming up with a local submersible company to build a new five-person submarine that will travel to almost 2 miles below the ocean's surface. This project will be completed in 2016 and will be the first deep-sea manned submarine project for the University of Washington. "If someday students routinely had the opportunity to go on a manned sub I think the research in deep-ocean science would explode." said director of the lab's industry and defense programs, Robert Miyamoto. The submarine is named Cyclops, and has a carbon-fiber hull that can take passengers to 9,842 feet which is deeper than all but some existing subs. Actually, submarines aren’t that popular, there are about 600 military subs worldwide, and only about 100 certified civilian subs, and most of those are on private yachts or in storage.

For one and a half years Miyamoto's team have leased a campus lab with OceanGate and has gone through more than 20 prototype designs before settling on the recently unveiled plan. The hull of Cyclops is shaped like a bullet built for plunging down in less than 60 minutes. Once Cyclops reaches its 3000 meter depth, it rotates to its cruising position and the passenger seats pivot to keep the riders upright. The Boeing Company worked with OceanGate and the UW on initial design of the 7-inch-thick pressure vessel. The battery will be made of lithium-polymer that will make the sub lighter and give it the ability to dive longer and faster than traditional subs. Now for how it got its name, Cyclops’ viewing area is designed as a 5-foot-wide dome of 4-inch-thick glass and passengers will sit inside the dome to have a 180-degree view.

Miyamoto plans to integrate modern control systems such as joysticks and more automated controls that allow operation with a single pilot. The University of Washington is funded by a 5 million dollar grant from OceanGate and the UW team now comprises of about six people. Miyamoto hopes to grow to about 10 when the project is at its height. The submarine is scheduled to be commercially available from the company in 2016. Passenger safety and cost are the two most common criticisms of man controlled submarines. But in the past 35 years there have been no serious injuries in non-military submarines. The team is aiming to build a smaller, lighter vehicle with a launch system that doesn't require a specialized vessel to keep total operating costs lower than today's manned submersibles.