OMER-2 : Quebec team holds HPVA world record

The Montreal OMER-2 team from École de Technologie Supérieure won the last International Human Powered Vehicle Association competition early April in San Diego, California. Thirty teams attended the event, also called the World Submarine Invitational, hosted by Scripps Institution of Oceanography (La Jolla, CA). Submarine runs, held in the 100 meter long 15 feet deep Offshore Model Basin in Escondido, CA, were timed by HiTech Equipment specialists.

OMER-2 came out first in the traditional two man powered sub division with a record breaking 6.546 knots, the fastest ever monitored. Francis Choquette pedalled the sleek twelve foot (3.6m) fibreglass mini-sub while Benoit Chabot steered it straight on course, with a constant eye on the two inboard computers. Only the one man powered vehicle called SubStandard, built by Bill Nicoloff of Northridge, California was faster, winning the Guinness Book of Records title with a 6.696 knots record setting speed. Many observers think that the one and two passenger subs should compete in two different classes. Plain statistics show the differences between the two types of vehicles. For instance SubStandard displaced only one ton with a diameter of 20 inches, while OMER-2 showed equivalent stats of 1.13 tons (40 cubic feet) and 29 inches.

A few days after the race I visited the OMER- 2 crew at their lab at École de Technologie Supérieure (ETS) in Montreal. Team leader Simon Joncas showed me around, explaining the who, what, how and why of this feat.

The first HPV competitions were held in Florida in 1989, under Florida Atlantic University's Ocean Engineering Department (FAU) leadership. Divers Richard Leboeuf and Éric Deschamps formed the OMER research group as an extra-curricular activity. With their college's support they gathered fifteen student partners and over thirty sponsors. During the next several months they studied hydrodynamics, life support systems, ergonomics, mechanics and many other subjects. In 1991, they were ready with the first prototype, obviously called OMER-1. Their participation at the second FAU/HPV championships in Fort Lauderdale won them their American competitors' attention for design and innovative concepts. However the first OMER sub was slow and awkward to steer along the long oval undersea course. It was a good show but it was back to the drawing board. New crew members were involved and new computer concepts applied. A rebuilt hull configuration, and a new computer-controlled propeller got them to the head of the pack. The following quotation from Ray McAllister, professor at FAU Ocean Engineering and Human Powered Vehicle Association inspiration, gives an idea of the fun and action of last April's competition:

"Sunday was the day when we (the FAU team) could run all afternoon if we wanted. We had priority. We got in a couple of good runs in the morning and eagerly awaited the afternoon trials. Then we could shine! Meanwhile another submarine from past races, the Quebec OMER, got ready to run. Last time they got one run in at the very end of the race week, everybody cheered that they were able to complete one slow run. No competition? Wrong! They had built a new sub, and told us that every time they would make a change they would ask themselves how would FAU do it?

"They ran faster than we did right off the bat and bettered their time almost every run. It was a very hydrodynamically built sub, beautifully finished inside. By the end of the day they were up to 6.4 knots. We were up to 6.065, the fastest we could achieve. OMER had beaten us in the collegiate division. Among their innovations was a variable pitch propeller controlled by a computer inside the sub. It kept track of all parameters and, after each run, they would download the information into a tank side computer for instant analysis. On the basis of this analysis they would know how deep to run, when to really start pedalling hard, and how fast they were going at any time.

"Later as Matt Ziegler, the team leader, and I were eating supper, the victorious ETS team from Canada came into the restaurant. As we finished, we walked over to their table and bowed deeply three times. We then congratulated them again and told them we would be back in 1998 with a much better sub and would try to beat the pants off them. I said we had a special advantage: every time we were going to do anything to our new sub we would ask ourselves: How would OMER do it?"

To contact OMER call (514) 289-8800 ext 7557 or ETS-OMER, 4750 Henri-Julien Montreal, QC H2T 2C8.

OMER-2 specs:
Length: 12 feet, Design speed: 7 knots, Max. diameter: 29 inches, Displacement: 1.13 cubic meters, Weight in air: 136 kg, Propulsion:
chain and gear drive, computer controlled variable pitch propeller system, Frame/Skin materials:
balsa core fibreglass sandwich