Portolio of David Elkan-Gonzalez

In this project my team of 3 worked to recreate a model of the Nautilus from the iconic book, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. For this design we took inspiration from the Disney interpretation of the Nautilus and tried to recreate a feasibly functional model of the Nautilus.  Our model would be miniaturized and not need to worry about cargo or passengers, but would need need sensors to help facilitate it's autonomous control as well as a waterproof compartment to hold batteries and electronics.  Also it had to look awesome.

As we explored the Disney designs we noted one major flaw; it lacked maneuverable dive planes.  Dive planes are essentially horizontal rudders used by submarines to help control their depth.  Disney's Nautilus design included only static dive planes, and thus we would have devise our own system for controlling depth. I was given this task and came up with weighted rack and pinion system. A pair of waterproof servos mounted as part of this system acted as ballast, shifting themselves fore and aft to tilt the plane of the submarine.  We designed our model to be just about neutrally buoyant, so by applying thrust and adjusting its angle our Nautilus could easily allow our vessel to dive or surface.

Our design called for a steel baseplate, mainly for the added weight. Our sensors included two cameras, each looking out a porthole, and laser rangefinder concealed in the nose.  A processing unit and power source were included in a watertight capsule.  The hull design was fairly complex and consequently called for the use of a 3D printer.  Depth is controlled with our rack and pinion system, direction and speed with a rudder and propeller.  Significant consideration was also given to weight distribution, keeping it slightly bottom heavy to ensure it doesn't flip upside down.