Already touted as the world’s ‘first compact semi submarine’, Ego seems to be an earnestly smart design conceived by Korean company Raonhaje. The composition of this petite contraption is framed around a submersible, compact circular mass with two winged, podded propulsion units, which allow the craft to jauntily spurt on an ethereal underwater trip.
Designed for two or at the most three people, the submarine will be powered by 12 8-volt marine batteries. This makes the adroit device fully electric and in effect more environmentally friendly. It will also allow the craft to be driven without any special license, and to eschew stringent restrictions placed on entry into protected marine environments.
A full battery charge of 6 to 10 hours would allow the craft to run at its top speed of 5 knots for 4 hours and at a reduced speed for 8 hours. The whole steering system is based upon a car’s system, like inclusion of acceleration pedals, which makes the controls of this remarkable craft very simple and at the same time familiar for people unaccustomed to submersible crafts. Prototypes of this model are ready for test ‘sailing’, while the two-seater ‘Ego’ is expected to be commercially available for interested customers in October 2011.
Source: DesignBoom
