Polish guys build a DIY submarine and dive it to the bottom of sunken uranium mine
- A Polish YouTuber has taken his DIY submarine down into a uranium mine
- The YouTuber is hoping to beat the 110 meters recorded by a previous submarine
- At its base, the mine is over 240 meters deep under the water’s surface
Published on Feb 11, 2025 at 6:43 PM (UTC+4)
by Henry Kelsall
Last updated on Feb 11, 2025 at 6:43 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Tom Wood
A Polish YouTuber has built an incredible DIY submarine and then taken it to the depths of a sunken uranium mine.
YouTuber CPSdrone spent a lot of time crafting the drone, which could dive up to 243m (797ft).
A video on his channel shows him building it and then taking it down to the mine.
The video follows up on a previous submarine he built in 2023, which sadly imploded after diving just over 129m into the water.
DISCOVER SBX CARS: The global premium car auction platform powered by Supercar Blondie
A 3D-printed part is what sunk the previous submarine
The video reveals that a small 3D-printed part, meant to seal the tube a camera was in, gave way and caused the previous version to implode.
The part’s O-ring couldn’t handle the 24 bar of pressure in the uranium mine.
The concept is similar to that of this newer design. However, CPSdrone uses aluminum end caps instead and much more tech.
The motors also received a massive upgrade. Four huge motors are on each side of the DIY submarine, and four smaller vertical motors sit in tunnels within the submarine’s body.
The front houses the cameras with connectors in the rear, while the main body of the drone is made out of nylon.
The electricity is a sea of wires and battery packs – eventually, the submarine is ready to go.
The uranium mine is over 240 meters deep
The mine is 243 meters deep, roughly the same as three Statues of Liberty, so it is a big ask for the DIY submarine to dive all that way.
The mission starts well, except for a slightly tangled cable, which the team manages to resolve.
The images from the cameras are incredibly clear, and they show the decay of the mine over time.
The submarine successfully passes by where the previous version failed, and it just keeps on going. The craft makes it to roughly 160 meters before the camera eventually fails.
The team scrubbed the mission and began recovering the sub before it imploded.
Pulling the sub back up, the team discovered its fiber optic cable was wrapped around something in the mine shaft.
After a few scares, the submarine finally returns to the surface.
