Project

[/sci/naut !!lzxYO78lUdU No.5500]

I love this board.

I'm trying to make an underwater habitat at ambient pressure, off the coast of North Wales, and I could do with some help working out what materials I need to use.

Why?

The Habitat is something I wanted to do a month or so ago, but then lost interest in because I had no money. The idea is that I make something like Jule's underwater hotel- http://www.jul.com/ - and put it in coastal water off of Bangor- It's a university town with no real tourist industry, and I know my way around it. Bangor university has, AFAIK, a pretty decent marine biology department, and would probably have an interest in being able to be stationed under the water for long periods of time. I also have a personal interest, and would love to be able to stay down there a few weeks a year.

This was planned thanks to Mad Scientist, who got me interested in this in the first place. He knows about it, but isn't really involved, so it's just me at the moment.

[/sci/naut !!lzxYO78lUdU No.5503]

What?

I'm looking for some kind of watertight container I can weld stuff to the bottom of, like a shipping container or a grain silo. The container needs to have approximately 35m^3 of volume (and 5m^2 one could walk in) to contain all the equipment necessary, but other than that anything goes. It will be held in place by a steel frame attached to a (probably concrete) base, which I'll float down and then sink. It'll be filled with sand, and then the habitat will be lowered onto it with some kind of pulley system I'll need help with the design of.

In terms of modification, it will have a moon pool on the floor somewhere, two holes in the exterior wall (one at ground level, the other in the roof at the opposite end) and an insulated power/air line from a pump at the surface- I was thinking about adding a window, but It mightn't be practical to do so if the thing has flat sides.

The container was initially going to be a silo measuring 3*10M, but that's now unavailable, unfortunately. So far I'm looking at shipping containers, old gas/liquid tankers, cement mixers, and making something from scratch.

Limitations:
- I'm 17.
- I have about £300 to use. I'm willing to sell my PC, which should put me up to ~£900, and I'm looking for part time jobs to push that up further. I'm hoping I can either get a grant, or help with materials, from the university.
- I don't live in bangor. I live around 3 hours away, in fact. That said, I can get free accommodation there if I'm willing to stay on a permanent basis. I might be able to get it for one other person as well, but I doubt anyone wants to stay in a shitty student flat for this.

[/sci/naut !!lzxYO78lUdU No.5519]

In terms of cost, everything depends on the buoyancy of the habitat. I'd say we need about £50 of material, excluding the sand, for every tonne of it.

[KING !YRLqM2fQQk No.5526]

>>5503
I love the idea bro, however, this shit is really farfetched.

This will go into the thouands for materials and of course maintenance. It is do-able.

[Anonymous No.5535]

I have nothing to contribute, but I'm Welsh, so I thought I would just show my support.

[i peg myself with tubes !MpRWP1Acjo No.5566]

LEGOROBOT?

Anyway, why not start with something smaller in scale, like a simple dome filled with air sustained to the bottom of a sand bank with weights. You could reach it through swimming or diving, and if it's not terribly deep, you could put some plants in there in order to recycle air. That way you wouldn't have to bother with air pumping or solid constructions, or it could be a sort of first base for any other operations.

Anyway I'm kinda drunk right now so I might be babbling a lot of incongruencies.

[/sci/naut !!lzxYO78lUdU No.5589]

>>5526
I realise that. It's not something I'm doing for fun alone, I'm hoping it can eventually end up being useful to someone. Using the kinds of prices I'm finding at the moment, it looks like ~£4000 will be the total cost.

I'm afraid I'm still at a very early stage, and haven't really done much in the way of estimating cost. Assuming I can find somewhere to plug it in in the first place there'll be a constant drain of about 400W when it's in use in summer and 800W in winter. I'll need an air pump capable of giving 8L/minute to 21ft under(I had a link to one somewhere, will post it in a minute) and a dehumidifier, along with some rudimentary lighting. Luxury isn't the goal here, by any standard, so I think I can afford to skimp on furniture and only include a chair and a sleeping bag.

>>5535
:D

If It's ever finished, I'll let you stay there if you care to inflict it upon yourself.

>>5566
Good idea, thanks. So far I haven't done much in the way of trials.

The problem with this as the final solution (and I realise you're not suggesting it as one) is that there's not really much difference between it and just using a rebreather, whereas the habitat is supposed to last for days or weeks at a time.

[Anonymous No.5704]

/an/ had a guy who was testing the effects of prolonged underwater habitat exposure on a hamster. I don't know if this is his blog but it is the same idea

http://hampture.blogspot.com/

[/sci/naut !!lzxYO78lUdU No.5751]

>>5704
That's Mad Sci :D

Hampture was the best hamster related science experiment I've ever encountered, and was my inspiration for trying to do all of this. He's also responsible for cereal guy, and the rest of this monstrosity:http://www.plasticbrickautomaton.com/?id=1