LEGO Submarine Dives Deep into River Currents

A Finnish YouTuber has built a fully functional submarine using LEGO parts. The submarine, named Submarine 5.0, is part of a multi-year series and features a combination of LEGO Technic motors and linkages with a sealed acrylic hull.

The submarine uses an Arduino Nano ESP32 brain, a Honeywell pressure sensor, and an MPU-6050 gyroscope/accelerometer for control and navigation. Depth control comes from a modified Kamoer NKP peristaltic pump that fills and empties a flexible 50 ml veterinary IV bag.

The submarine's propulsion uses two non-LEGO 55 mm propellers driven through magnetic couplings, while three LEGO M-motors and one XL-motor handle the rest. Power comes from a standard LEGO 9V rechargeable battery box.