Mr Buckshot
February 16th, 2008, 12:24 AM
http://www.physorg.com/newman/gfx/news/rinspeedsquba.jpg
A Swiss company called Rinspeed has recently announced its newest project: an underwater car. Named "sQuba," the car can both drive on roads, and then - at the push of a button - dive up to 10 meters (33 feet) under the sea. <a href="http://physorg.tradepub.com/?pt=cat&page=_INTL"> <img src="http://www.physorg.com/banner/lifesci468x60.gif" border="0" width="468" height="60" alt=""></a> Rinspeed describes sQuba as the world's first real car to drive both on land and underwater, thanks to some cutting-edge technology. The car has a steel chassis, while its lightweight body panels are made of carbon nanotubes.
An electric motor provides rear-wheel drive while on roads. Underwater, two propellers in the stern and two jet drives in the bow propel the "amphibious" vehicle. With zero emissions, the design is even environmentally friendly, eliminating any pollution into the sea.
The two-seater also includes a self-contained on-board oxygen system to supply the driver and passenger with fresh air for breathing.
Rinspeed CEO Frank Rinderknecht admits that part of the inspiration for the underwater car comes from the 1977 James Bond hit "The Spy Who Loved Me." The sQuba concept symbolizes the realization of this fantasy that once sparked his imagination.
"And exactly thirty years later this amazing - yet at the time animated - film sequence materializes and becomes reality, in today's world," said Rinderknecht.
The sQuba car will be presented at the Geneva Motor Show, which runs from March 6-16, 2008. However, mass-production of the car is not planned for the foreseeable future. Oh yeah, now we finally have a real car-into-submarine, similar to the Lotus Esprit from that 007 movie (I'm a diehard 007 fan).
Let's do a comparison:
The Squba has zero-emission electric motors when used underwater. The Lotus still ran on gas.
The Squba has no guns but the Lotus did
The Squba will likely have the modern cabin tech like GPS navigation, surround sound, etc. Lotus was a 70's car...
One more thing, cars that can travel on water have been around since the 1960's. The Gibbs Aqada, however, took that concept further by having retractable wheels and other features that truly gave that speedboat feel. But the Squba is the first civilian car that actually goes underwater.
I chose to make this in the Tech section over the Off Topic section because this is some revolutionary tech after all.
Speaking of submersible cars, I'm trying to make an RC car that can go into a pond, drive across the waterbed, and drive back out again, for a physics contest. Last year I built a crude magnetic submarine that sank to the bottom of a water tank and picked up a winning number of nails. There was then a reaction of HCL and baking soda, inflating a balloon and bringing the sub back to the surface in record time. I'll see if I can apply the same concept to my next physics project. You can see it here: (it was a team project)
qOKd_jCIibw
A Swiss company called Rinspeed has recently announced its newest project: an underwater car. Named "sQuba," the car can both drive on roads, and then - at the push of a button - dive up to 10 meters (33 feet) under the sea. <a href="http://physorg.tradepub.com/?pt=cat&page=_INTL"> <img src="http://www.physorg.com/banner/lifesci468x60.gif" border="0" width="468" height="60" alt=""></a> Rinspeed describes sQuba as the world's first real car to drive both on land and underwater, thanks to some cutting-edge technology. The car has a steel chassis, while its lightweight body panels are made of carbon nanotubes.
An electric motor provides rear-wheel drive while on roads. Underwater, two propellers in the stern and two jet drives in the bow propel the "amphibious" vehicle. With zero emissions, the design is even environmentally friendly, eliminating any pollution into the sea.
The two-seater also includes a self-contained on-board oxygen system to supply the driver and passenger with fresh air for breathing.
Rinspeed CEO Frank Rinderknecht admits that part of the inspiration for the underwater car comes from the 1977 James Bond hit "The Spy Who Loved Me." The sQuba concept symbolizes the realization of this fantasy that once sparked his imagination.
"And exactly thirty years later this amazing - yet at the time animated - film sequence materializes and becomes reality, in today's world," said Rinderknecht.
The sQuba car will be presented at the Geneva Motor Show, which runs from March 6-16, 2008. However, mass-production of the car is not planned for the foreseeable future. Oh yeah, now we finally have a real car-into-submarine, similar to the Lotus Esprit from that 007 movie (I'm a diehard 007 fan).
Let's do a comparison:
The Squba has zero-emission electric motors when used underwater. The Lotus still ran on gas.
The Squba has no guns but the Lotus did
The Squba will likely have the modern cabin tech like GPS navigation, surround sound, etc. Lotus was a 70's car...
One more thing, cars that can travel on water have been around since the 1960's. The Gibbs Aqada, however, took that concept further by having retractable wheels and other features that truly gave that speedboat feel. But the Squba is the first civilian car that actually goes underwater.
I chose to make this in the Tech section over the Off Topic section because this is some revolutionary tech after all.
Speaking of submersible cars, I'm trying to make an RC car that can go into a pond, drive across the waterbed, and drive back out again, for a physics contest. Last year I built a crude magnetic submarine that sank to the bottom of a water tank and picked up a winning number of nails. There was then a reaction of HCL and baking soda, inflating a balloon and bringing the sub back to the surface in record time. I'll see if I can apply the same concept to my next physics project. You can see it here: (it was a team project)
qOKd_jCIibw