
first image
'ego', a compact semi-submarine designed by raonhaje
billing itself as the world's 'first compact semi submarine', the 'ego' craft by korean company raonhaje
is built around a submergeable core, permitting the private enclosed underwater excursions
of individuals, couples, and families.
with a maximum speed of five knots, the boat is motored through podded propulsion,
powered by 8 12-volt marine batteries. in addition to being more ecologically sustainable,
the electric design also permits the craft to bypass restrictions on entry into protected marine environments.
a single full battery charge is obtained in six to ten hours and provides a run time
varying from about four hours at top speed to eight hours at consistent cruising speed.

view of the central hub, on land (left) and submerged (right)
because 'ego' is designed for personal use, its steering system is modeled after a car's to increase the ease of operation,
and is composed of an accelerator pedal instead of a throttle lever and an intuitive direction switch.
no special license is required for the craft's operation.

left: full view of the surface section of the craft
right: detail on deck platform
prototypes of the model have already been produced and are available for test driving.
the two-seat 'ego' is expected to be commerecially available in october 2011, with a 4-seat model still in development.

design diagrams for 'ego'
video depiction of concept renders and prototype photographs
via gizmodo
kost da?
Brilliant, love it. So simple, don’t know why someone hasn’t done it before now. Guess it is like my Cool Roller for Igloo, a simple design waiting to be born.
Since it cant dive, how is this different than a glass-bottom boat? It has none of the benefits of either a submarine or a boat–cant dive, cant sail, cant cook, sleep or travel. Its cool-looking but pointless and another waste of time and resources. A personal submarine that could dive and travel distances could at least claim the benefit of storm and pirate avoidance. This fails.
you sail by eyesight underwater? isn’t that dangerous? What if the water isn’t very clear?
KWarren is absolutely right, also, there is no bathroom.
Absolutely beautiful. Amazing extension of the entire “Glass Bottomed Boat” idea…
I would imagine that something like this would be used by resorts and private owners in places like Thailand, Maldives, The Caribbean where the water is crystal clear. I think it’s brilliant, because of its simplicity. Anyone with no experience what so ever would be able to operate it.
Are they going to make one affordable for my pets?
Beautiful idea. A unit powered by solar cells would be even better.
Tiger Woods also ordered one, It is a Korean Brand like Samsung, LG, HJC, Kia, and Hyundai
only question I have is what about the water that gets into the bottom compartment? some sort of drainage utility is necessary for something like that.
That seems top heavy, is it weighted at the bottem or something special to keep it upright? its an awesome idea but I’m curious to see if it would actually work