Building a Lego-powered Submarine 3.0 - balloon and compressor
Depth control is done with an air-filled balloon and a Lego-compressor. Steering is done by turning the propeller direction with the help of linear magnetic coupling. Otherwise it's more of the same as before. Swimming pool and lake tests at the end. Enjoy!
Specs:
Displacement: 2.35 kg (5.2 lb)
Test depth: 6 m (20 ft)
Hull: glass jar (IKEA 365+ 1.7l), plastic lid
Balloon: latex water balloon for kids
Motors: 2x Lego PF L-motor (88003-1), 1x Lego PF Servo motor (88004-1)
Compressor parts: Lego pneumetic pump small V2 (bb0875), Lego pneumatic switch (bb0874), Lego Gear 24 Tooth Clutch (60c01), Lego Hose Pneumatic 4mm (21825)
Magnetic couplings: K&J Magnetics D34-N52 neodymium magnet, TapeCase 423-5 UHMW Tape
Propeller: Lego Propeller 3 Blade with 24t Gear (2740c01)
Radio control: 27 MHz controller dissembled from a toy submarine (Zantec Mini RC U Boot), L298 H-bridge to drive motors
Power supply: 9V Lego battery box for the motors, 3.7V Li-Po for the radio
Pressure sensors: Lego Manometer (64065), Jolly Logic Altimeter One
Note: The depth control I use here is called RCABS or Recirculated compressed air ballast system.
Previous subs:
1.0 piston ballast for depth control • Building and Testing a...
2.0 propellers for depth control • Building a Lego-powere...
I love how the fish was checking out the sub and even when it started inflating the balloon it didn’t swim away. That’s one fearless fish.
It was making a wierd noise and it was shiny so I assume that is why it kept the interest of the fish.
The fish: ay everyone come check the shit out Edit: Fred the fish saw it btw
Perch.
In finland they call it "sisu", that fish attitude.
Fish are renowned for keeping their cool. Cold-blooded creatures.
8:53 I think this is the coolest shot ever on this channel. Seeing all the gears, and the pump working. Of course the captain too haha
Like a heart
Yeah
"captain"
@@minhuang8848 Commanding Officer. My mistake.
I really like that you can see the balloon expand as it ascends--it really illustrated the instability of this depth control system, which scuba divers would likely be familiar with!
Yup. As you rise, pressure drops so you need to reduce the air volume in your buoyancy device (baloon in this case) to maintain neutral buoyancy. If you don't, your rise will accelerate as your positive bouyancy increases at an increasing speed and your sub shoots upwards (and could get the bends :-))
Accurate. Getting to neutral buoyancy in SCUBA gear is a nightmare.
Should’ve hired this guy at ocean gate
Fishy be like "This is some weird ass fish, HEY YO KARL come check out this guy" lol
Lol
Karl has to check that out
I am being humble when I am telling you that I am the most powerful strongest coolest smartest most famous greatest funniest Y*uTub3r of all time! That's the reason I have multiple girlfriends and I show them off all the time! Bye bye cole
I was about to comment on the fish being very curious. these projects are super fun to look at :)
That fish was so funny
One curious fish is probably the best prize you could get when watching back the footage of that go pro
Also where you can find a sweet bike
@@lukecy8187 that was a bike????
i think that's how "Titan" submersible was made
Even this one is better than the oceangate sub
@@petcuandrei2188yeah because it came back up albeit with the help of the safety line.
That LEGO submarine could have gone to the way of that lost Titanic Sub.
Each upload gets us closer to him just building a space ship made entirely out of Legos.
SPACESHIP
With current pace of progress, I'd say it takes 2 more years to get there.
DeathStar
How about a Lego machine that cleans the ocean
Lets start a voting for that pls reply 1 for "Agree" and 0 for "Disagree"!
The brave, fearless captain, knowing how the vessel is only a prototype. Gladly sails the underwater abyss. While screaming internally that he's about to die any second.
"The vessel wasn't like Mark II, but it was a fine effort for the creation of Mark III. I'll be looking forward for Mark IV."
You would be internally screaming too if you saw a fish nearly as big as your vessel in the deep blue
Fun fact: minifigures can float on water
@@darthdooku6246 you know what else floats on water? Dead bodies
@@miningflame9847 r/cursedcomments
Why is this submarine and the remote giving me flashbacks
10:45 that fish wins the internet!!!! Perfect timing!!!!!!
I swear, this guy can build a warship and nuclear submarine from lego in the future
our future military will be constructed by this guy
Will*
Yup
Given enough parts and time to experiment, for sure!
И гиперзвуковую противокорабельную ракету
The fish visiting the sub was a cute moment 😆
lol yes
fish photo bombing lol
Yep
Hehe, phish.
I am agree!
Better then the titan sub
I am happy, that the captain survived.
The thing is, submarines don't only use ballast tanks to control their submersions. They also have side fins for fine tuning. Also without automatic pressure controller it will be extremely difficult to keep steady depth. I still would give 10/10 for really cool project.
some subs only have side fins or wings and work like planes underwater, which would make a really cool lego build
@@sando5943 he's already done it, look at the previous attempts
Side fins only work in motion. But the real difference is the displacement of the vessels. The margin of error is 1000000 times bigger (or around that ball park) on an actual sub so tiny changes have less effect.
Also this buoyancy system has the problem that its equilibrium is unstable: if it surfaces a little the water pressure lowers, the balloon expands and the submarine has more buoyancy, surfacing more. Opposite if it goes a little deeper, it wasn't to go even more deeper.
Yeah dive planes are cool
"Almost lost the sub" A sub is lost in a river in LEGO City
haha nice reference xD
best comment
HEY !
build the rescue..? wait... no
LEGO©®™ City©®™!
now put 5 rich people inside
Nah bro your trying to make this guy makes the titanic sumbarine explore incident
now place a buncha nitrogen and water above it
💀💀💀💀💀🪦🪦🪦🪦🪦
My gosh. That second wild test looks like it was made with a horror movie filter.
The level of confidence to put it in an actual river is staggering. Also, if this guy builds a Lego rocket and lands it on the moon or a sentient Lego robot I will not bat an eye
And then he’ll make place a real hyperdrive on a lego millennium falcon and send it to Alpha Centauri
Those're some complex stuff Also mate I want to tell you that Jesus Christ loves you. He died for you and has risen from the dead so you can have everlasting life. Repent and belive in Him, He is willing to give you strength and victorious life. God bless you mate and I wish you all the best. At least I tried to make it look like I'm not a bot or something lol
@@towarzyszkarp I didn't ask him to do any of that. I like my sins.
@@thompsonnoel It’s only when you ask Jesus to save you and start following him that you realise how much better life is when rid yourself of your sinful ways. I know when I was an arrogant little atheist douche my life was pretty lame, but when I gave myself to Jesus and ask him for help he made things a lot better for me.
@@towarzyszkarp Good on you 👍
lmao I love how the fish just showed up
uncredited but not forgotten, true hero
This guy made a submarine that’s better than Oce- *my lawyer has advised me to not finish this joke*
Lego: look I have invented these bricks him: ah yes complex advanced engineering materials
8:45 Yes, this is something divers have to learn about. There’s positive feedback in buoyancy because as you go deeper the same amount of air will displace less water and vice versa, so you need to actively adjust your buoyancy compensator
I was looking for this comment!
Or you need rigid (incompressible) buoyancy tanks.
kzhead.info
@@MadofaA considering both your exposure protection and your lungs impact your buoyancy, that's not possible without an actual pressure suit... something unavailable outside military or deep commercial diving operations. Thus your point is moot.
@@elucid07 Yeah, of course youk’re right, but I was more refering to the submarine in the video. The reason he can’t control depth and get it to “hover” mid-water is the use of a compressible buoyancy tank (balloon).
10:49 Love that the perch just comes up and inspects it like a mechanic until the compressor starts up again lol
Honestly better then the titan sub
I'd trust this thing more than Oceangate
this requires some arduino magic depth control with a barometer that would be pretty cool
I thought of a fail-safe as well. Make it so that if it doesn't recieve any radio input in X minutes, then it fills the balloon to resurface
plus a nuclear reactor and while we're at it, a torpedo
@@nesthor5256 also while at it maybe a nuclear cruise missile tubes and proper sonar array (towed and center) would be good
this has gone from "cool proof of concept" to a serious project iam following with passion... and you totally had me with the small magnets... its a really creative solution
Super cool! Maybe you could try adding rotateable "wings" that generate lift? That way you could match the water density as closely as possible, or be slightly more dense, and go up by increasing speed/angle of the wings
That Perch is gorgeous. Certainly shows why Izaak Walton describes them as "warriors" in his 1653 book "The Compleat Angler".
The amount he trusts his submarine is more than I trust myself
You need help
@@rayyaninspookymonth1630 even though I'm high functioning psychopath I have adhd thus my impulse control is low. Because of that I don't really trust my self
me too
@@axcothebruh4793 same
@@axcothebruh4793 same
I love how the magnets are the perfect size to fit in the gears
Lego doesn't follow consistent industry standard sizes, but they *do* follow some standards, so some stuff will fit into Lego technic parts. I've tried and found that some LEDs can fit perfectly into the technic holes too.
@@PixlRainbow For the most part, lego piece dimensions have whole millimeter lengths so there's bound to be other things that line up nicely.
@@cameron7374 Lego uses "base 1.6mm" system. Most dimensions have fractions of mm. The reason why they are compatible is because there is an almost infinite variety of magnet sizes being sold.
But they are not, that's why he had to add tape 😋
Great job! It would be nice to install a protective cylinder on the propeller. A propeller with a smaller diameter and more blades can be more efficient.
It is so good to see engineering like this put together step by step. It all looks so complicated but, when building, it is just a load of simple parts. It takes a special brain to know how to put them together in the right way though. Love your videos. Thank you.
11:02 Fish: “Ayy lmao” Great project btw, I’d like to see bigger, upgraded version which can go deeper with gopro inside the submarine 😃👍
needs better RF range for that. And possibly a more reliable inflation setup.
Bloody hell, this guy must have had the best childhood ever.
U no like your comment
4:52 "Welcome aboard, Captain. You're the best captain on the planet. I ain't even squidding."
11:07 love how curious the fish is
When you have an engineering degree but you use it for lego's, this man fulfilled his childhood dreams of making stuff with lego's.
Lego*
Rapid prototyping.
Engineer pay sucks anyway
You don't need an engineering degree to understand how a submarine works. It's not that complicated.
@@Godzilaer *LEGO™
The fish checking it out was my favorite part
I love how he still makes space for the captain
The first thing I'd add would be an emergency surfacing system: A piece of (scrap) metal on the outside of the submarine bottom, held in place by a magnet or few inside the sub. There would be a motor (or better yet, a spring with a trigger) to retract the magnet from the proximity of the bottom to further inside, so that the piece of metal would drop off and the rest of the vehicle would surface even without the balloon. This mechanism would be triggered automatically after a certain time of no radio input (indicating lost connection) or if the outside pressure goes too high (indicating inability to surface by normal means i.e. the balloon).
Or you could just make droppable weights
@Nitro Charge151 but he said in a much smarter way
Better yet, an electromagnet to hold the emergency ballast so it drops if you lose power too.
but he put some string on the sub, so he can pull it if he wants
it could be triggered by a magnet being pulled off of the outer surface..
My endless waiting was finally rewarded. thanks for sustaining submarine series 🤗
i love this submarine series too, but your affection is too much for me. i would die from that kind of affection 😳
YOU ABSOLUTE MADMAN! magnets for driving the prop through the WTC wall! genius! this makes everything so much easier to design now, thank you!
If only the billionaires were good at lego
I love how the whole video is an experiment, that even the failures are documented. Interesting watch! Keep it up
You can add a ballast tank inside the submarine by replacing the balloon that pumps air in and out of the hull with a balloon inside the submarine that pumps water in and out of the balloon that's inside the submarine. This will allow you to; go deeper, be able to keep a stable depth, and not have to worry about the water pressure. (You may have to take out some lead pellets for more room) You could also put the go-pro (or some other camera) on the front of the submarine so that you can see where your going and explore the bottom. And if you're realy ambitious, you could add lego arms to allow you to grab items on the bottom. This submarine is very impressive and can be used to find things like; good fishing spots and valuable items on the bottom.
Only problem then would be signal strength. Didn't seem like he went too far and lost contact already. Would need a much stronger radio.
Could that be solved with wired connection
this is how the first submarine worked and it will still have to worry about the water pressure
@@Calvin62648 external water tanks could work
@@Calvin62648 That's what I constantly think every time I see this vid. The 2.0 is the best design imo
Bro could work for the nasa
Bruh this was better than titan😂😂
10:50 The fish: Ohh a new friend! 11:16 The fish: Nooooo!
11:00 Bro, are you okey? xD
@@t-dogstudios5520 true xDDDD
@@chals1117 xD
I'll bet all the old tech and mech engineers watching this are saying: Well in my day you had to engineer all the parts yourself, these lads today have it so much easier.
।।
| |
*I I*
I I
| |
A tip for you, the balloon you use to make the submarine go up, can burst if you go up from a deep place, because of the pressure, so try another way to go up, I just don't know another way but it's the best😂
Surely this guy invented the science 🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽
10:50 Even the fish are checking the submarine out.
Photobomb
9:00 that sounded like an alarm on a real submarine. Spooky stuff
Probably one of the funniest balloon I've ever seen.
That idea with the balloon as the outer ballast basin is ingenious! With this you never run out of air supply in the hull!!!
This video is so complex but the way he goes about producing it makes it seem so simple. Love this keep it up my dude!
First you use full auto in buildings and now you watch one of my favorite youtubers wth man
Complex?
Those who love innovation and creativity, it's Amazing kzhead.info/sun/abiin5SnhmijZXk/bejne.html
@@UserOfTheName 00000000p00000 v
@@UserOfTheName 5
the use of magnets here are just ...wow so clean
Let's take amoment to appreciate the captain. What a brave soul!
Yo this better then the titan sub because it don't implode💀
You need some compressed air in a seperate tank inside the sub. And another one. That one is filled with water at the Start. If you pump the water outsides, you can control the depth. And dont forget: your sub seems to be heavier, when it is slowly. So it will sink :)
i still think that negative buoyancy at the start is a BAD idea. if you lose radio control, it STAYS DOWN. which is, as we see, BAD.
Unless the sub checks for radio contact at regular intervals. If it lose the signal, it can automatically start surfacing. And with that, the need for backup systems shows up. So an internal tank for water, that is blow over board with an internal tanks pressurized gas, and thus even with ballast, the sub should be positively boyant to begin with.
...or you use a safety line just like him...
@@Thomas_Bergel The concern with a safety line, as we saw in the video, as that since you can only pull on it in a single direction, it's very easy for it to get caught on debris. I'm definitely in agreement with starting with a slightly positive buoyancy in order to prevent accidents.
Brave to use an unprotected latex balloon right next to a propeller and go diving in a natural body of water full of rocks and sticks. If that balloon popped you'd never be able to surface. Looking forward to seeing what you come up with for the next Lego submarine.
I don't think there's nearly enough pressure in the balloon to make it easy to pop. Wall thickness is determined by how stretched out the sides are, and a balloon only a couple inches inflated is going to be much stronger than a typical size of balloon. It will also have more deflection and less outward force when something touches it, which will absorb impacts. The propeller might even be stopped if it impacted the balloon as it can't support much torque.
I was more worried about how much further it inflated upon surfacing, as the water pressure decreased.
alright next step. torpedoes.
If 6 year old me knew that something like this is possible with Legos then it would've been my dream
_10:58_ _Ground Control to Sailor Tom_ _The sub is dead, there's something wrong_ _Can you hear me, Sailor Tom?_ _Can you hear me, Sailor Tom?_
Fish
Remember back when this guy just did crazy high conversions?
I love the little perch checking it all out lol
What a wonderful introduction to engineering. Thx 4 investing that much passion and time. Be blessed!
The minifigure: *I've seen things no man should ever face, my destiny has been sealed but the future is what awaits*
That little captain is a Lovecraft novel protagonist at this point, down there he saw Dagon, Cthulhu and the whole squad, and now he's going insane.
@@Rathbone_fan_account he's also deaf; standing right next to the engine and pump
All those moments will be lost like tears in the rain.
Oceans await us, one day soon ❤️😊
The oceans are getting dirty everyday by us humans. Why wouldn’t the ocean want to kill us.
The oceans would have killed all of us, if it was alive.
@@redzap13 Not exactly I've seen nature
@@seantaggart7382 I've seen Nature. I've seen Nature getting DIRTIER everyday and she CAN'T BATH. (sorry, I am having anger issues please stand by.)
@@redzap13 it's okay I wanna say i can sense its pain but i know it's doing okay
I’m surprised your radio controller worked for such depths. Very cool
10:51 the fish was clearly the result of the radio problems. you can see it in is eyes! he is a mastermind!
The stuff you build keeps getting crazier and crazier! Keep it up :D
hes just big brain
Next video should be a lego airplane!
Same man
He should try building a lego hot air baloon
in the future he will build a nuke, probably
Great work! I think you've reached the point where the most interesting improvement would be a depth-keeping mechanism.
I dunno, I'd be keen for torpedo tubes myself.
Personally, I want to see the what its crush depth is, but that's a bit too dangerous. I also desire, if possible, a stronger radio signal.
some kind of electronic pressure sensor hooked up to the baloon line, used as an input for a PID controller should work. Use an arduino. And set it so that it auto-surfaces if it recieves no radio signals for 5 minutes, in case it the water blocks the signal again.
@@Trickyboy1337 Or use sound signals to forward control input through water.
that fish is ballsy. turning sideways and spreading the fins like that is a threat display in many species. Basically a giant robo fish showed up and he was like hey, this is my turf, you better step off. And then the guy pulled the safety line and the robo fish left, so little dude now thinks he won a fight against the terminator.
Muy buen proyecto, mostrando todos los percances y soluciones. Lo de usarlo en un río, fue lo más arriesgado, justamente por problemas con plantas, barro, etc. Excelente!
4:50 let’s not forget the most IMPORTANT part. The ✨Captain✨
Ya got hooked right into "the ol' legosubmarine catcher" Also hello fish.
This man has succeeded my work by a million years
This guy just made a working lego ROV. I'm impressed
You seriously should visit Adam Savage in his Tested Channel! Would fascinate Adam for sure!
Yes
No
@@resko8758 Calm down mate
@@resko8758 He just said no. No need to tell someone to kill themselves over that
Yes kzhead.info/sun/hdSkgampbmevZHA/bejne.html Fax..
When we needed him the most, he came back
Yessir
Yessir (chain)
Amogus
For better depth control look into using a PID loop. (You'll need a way to sense depth, but maybe an external pressure sensor would work?)
11:05 Love how those fish came to say hi
He has mindblowing confidence with that thin balloon while sinking it in the river🙂
the water pressure will keep it from popping
11:15
@@spoonyPrincess welll... That river has some sharp things in it... Also he has a safety line anyways so no worries
@@2teethPogZa - if the balloon pops the sub will fill with water (eventually), and most likely destroy the electric components inside. So a little to worry about, also the safety line is thin, and will most likely snap if he is trying to pull in the large metal item it was caught on/in :ø)
This comment is totally pointless but that is a lake, not a river.
If you go much deeper you’ll need an over pressure valve for the balloon. Coming up from 6m you can see how much the balloon inflated. I’m really impressed the only one balloon was able to keep trim so well. Very cool!
If he had accidentally lost the sub and some people went river diving they would probably have a lot of questions lol
Worked better than Ocean Gate 🎉
6:17 i feel your pain man
11:05 huge respect for the camera man who went underwater for a solid 10 mins+++++
@@Shortness. wow I tough only I had this bot that replies funnyn't comments to me
It was a gopro not a cameraman
@@meenakshiagarwal376 it’s a joke -_-
@@multikubas ye
@@meenakshiagarwal376 no shit sherlock
11:12 I love how the fish was like “what is that :0”
2:04 Magnets don't have a positive and a negative pole, they have a north and a south pole. Polarity-sensitive electrical components have a positive and a negative pole.
*Man I NEVER WANT TO HIM to stop!* *I can't buy this thing and build stuff but i enjoy a lot by seeing his videos ❤️*
Very cool. I’m going to show this to my physics students when covering buoyancy. Just a suggestion, but what about adding lateral fins to help control stability and depth while moving forward? Keep up the awesome work.
the curious fish inspector though :D
I swear,that this guy can make a navy with legos and when he does it ima join the army
"We all live in a Lego Submarine, Lego Submarine."