Omer (submarine)
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Omer is the name of a series of human powered submarines. The submarines were built by students of the École de technologie supérieure (School of Higher Technology) in Montreal, Quebec for the International Submarine Races. As of 2005 Omer teams hold the world record for monoplace submarine and biplace submarine. Those records are :
- 7.192 knots for Omer 4 (monoplace)
- 7.061 knots for Omer 5 (biplace)
Omer 5 was the latest generation of submarine and will be replaced by Omer 6 still in development.
[edit] History
Since 1992, a group of students from the É.T.S. in electrical, mechanical, software and automated automation engineering have taken part in the completion of Omer, a human-powered submarine. The first generation of Omer was a biplace submarine that made its mark around the world. Despite the students' efforts and with numerous prizes and awards in conception and innovation, Omer was not the world's fastest submarine. Otherwise, at the first presence of the Omer team, a variable pitch system was operational and gave good performances and helped the next Omer submarines to increase their speed.
In September 1995, the team decided that Omer would become the world's champion. With new members' ideas and older members' expertise, Omer 2 was born. In four months, a new hull was made and a new onboard computer was added to control the variable pitch from the propeller, and to give some information to the pilot as well.
Omer went to California for a competition in May 1996, where it won a world record in the biplace category. With that victory in hand, the team decided to aim for first place in the monoplace category. Construction on Omer 3 began.
The team found success in Washington in June 1997, winning world record in all categories. In the summer of 2001, Omer 4 was set to beat the previous world record of 7.192 knots. Since then, a new electrical control system has been tested and integrated for the 2002 competition in California.
Since their creation, Omer, Omer 2 and Omer 3 had a lot of visibility in the media, and gained offers of help from individuals and corporations.
In the summer of 2003, Omer 5, the new biplace submarine took first place again using the experience acquired from Omer 4. The new submarine is now much more stable than Omer 4. In 2005, it beat the world speed record for a biplace submarine setting the mark at 7.061 knots.
